Beautiful Tree
by TankOTH90
Summary: What if Cate and Baze met up again one night and history repeats itself over again, but this time Cate keeps the baby, and Lux shows up.
1. Sister Unexpected

Outside of the courtroom, Cate, Baze, and Lux are standing there staring at eachother. They couldn't really process the fact that the Judge actually granted Cate and Baze temporary custody. Lux still couldn't believe she was face to face with her biological parents. She just wanted to be emancipated and move on, but that wasn't going to happen now.

"So, what are we doing?" Lux says breaking the silence.

Cate and Baze look at eachother not having a clue where to start.

"Uh, well, you can stay with me. I promise we'll fix something up for you that's better than the couch." Cate tells her. Lux couldn't help but smirk at her. Baze pulls Cate by her arm away from Lux. Cate pulls her arm back. "Um, ow! Excuse me!"

"Um, no, excuse me! Why do you get her?" He was clearly angry that Cate just up and decided this without discussing it with him first.

"Because I don't think she should be living above a bar! You don't even have room for her." Cate explains.

"Are you going to let me see her? Or are you going to decide that, too?" Baze says sarcastically.

Cate rolls her eyes at Baze, then walks back over to Lux, who had been watching them the whole time. "Okay. You'll stay with me, but we'll figure out some sort of schedule so that you can spend time with Baze."

Lux sighs. She knew they were just trying to be nice, but they didn't have to. "Look I haven't been on a schedule for sixteen years. I'm fully capable of taking care of myself. You guys don't have to do this. You have your own lives." Lux tells them as she begins to turn away and leave. Cate and Baze hurry and stop her.

"No, we want to do this." Baze says.

"You're our life now, Lux. We are going to take care of you. You don't need to do things on your own anymore." Cate tells her, but her phone interrupts them. She takes it out her purse and looks at the caller id. "It's Lauren." She says looking up at Baze. Baze sighs and rubs his forehead. Lux could tell something was going on. For the short time she knew her parents she could already tell when they were frustrated.

"Who's Lauren?" Lux says deciding to be nosey.

"She's your sister." Cate tells her.

Lux's eyes open as wide as a human being could possibly open their eyes. "She had a sister?" she thought. Why didn't they tell her that before? Lux was just as confused as ever. "A sister?"

Cate and Baze nod their heads slowly waiting for some kinda reaction from Lux. "Lux.."

"Is she Ryan's daughter?" Lux asks Cate.

Cate grins not really knowing how to explain it. "No. She's mine and Baze's."

"How old is she?"

"She's twelve." Cate tells her.

Baze chuckes. "More like 35. At least she acts like it." Cate smacks him on his chest.

"Does she know about me?" Lux was becoming very curious about this little sister she never knew she had. She wasn't a half-sister or a stepsister..she's her biological sister.

Cate shakes her head sadly. "No. We weren't sure how to mention it her. Well, I wasn't sure."

"And considering I didn't know you existed, I couldn't tell her, but if I did know I so would have told her." Baze says defending himself.

Cate gives him one of her looks. "Seriously?"

"What? It's true!"

"So, wait, I'm confused. You guys stayed together, or got back together after you gave me up? Or what?" Lux asks them.

"No!" Cate and Baze both say at the same time.

"I went to his bar one night, and he recognized me and I rocognized him, even though I didn't want to. Well, we started drinking and it went on from there." Cate explains.

Baze could tell Lux was so confused. He looked around and figured now was the best time they should leave. They could explain more when they got to Cate's and they were going to have to figure out some kind of way to break it to Lauren. He knew that wasn't going to be fun. "Look how about we talk about this more on the way to Cate's. I'm sure you want to meet Lauren and she'll definitely be interested in hearing about you." Baze suggests.

"Look you guys I can take care of myself. I swear. You already have a kid so I rather not ruin her life, too." Lux says walking away.

"Lux, wait!" Cate yells.

Lux turns around but she is still walking. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine." Lux walks away as fast as she could away from her parents. It was all too much for her right now and Cate and Baze weren't sure what to do..if they should stop her or not, so they let her go.

At Cate's house Cate and Baze walk in fussing as usual. Ryan walks out of the kitchen towards Cate. He kisses her on her cheek and looks weirdly at Baze.

"Hey, where is she?" Ryan asks her.

"Um, she didn't want to come. Where's Lauren?" Cate asks him.

"She's not home. What do you mean she didn't want to come? The judge gave you guys custody of her."

"Temporary." Baze points out. "We can't force her to stay with us."

"What? Man, you guys are her parents. Of course you can make her stay. She needs a home and a family. She needs parents!" Ryan yells at them.

"Who needs parents?" They all look over and see Lauren standing near the entry way staring at them.

Lauren is short like her mom. She actually looks a lot like Cate, but she has Baze's smile. Lauren has long brown hair, with bright green eyes. She's smart just like her mom, but sometimes she just doesn't care enough, just like her dad.

Lux walks into her foster parent's house. Before she could reach the stairs she sees her stuff all packed near the stairs. She didn't have no where to go now. The judge refused to give her emancipation and her parents needed parents. They wouldn't be able to take care of another teenager. Lux grabs her bags and walks out of the house. Where she was going to go, she wasn't sure.

Back at Cate's, Lauren is still staring at her parents wondering what conversation she just walked into.

"Hey, sweetie. How was your weekend at Sam's?" Cate asks her hoping the subject would be changed.

"What were you guys talking about?" But she was her daughter afterall.

"Um, Lauren. Come over here. We need to talk to you." Baze says patting the empty spot next to him on the couch.

"You guys are scaring me." Lauren says walking over and sitting next to her dad.

"It's nothing scary." Cate says taking Lauren's hands into her's. "We need to tell you something that is really important and I want you to tell me whatever you are thinking. Okay?"

Lauren squints her eyes nervously at Cate. "Oookay."

"Sixteen years ago your dad and I were in high school and it was Winter Formal. Well, we went with different people but ended up outside together, somehow, in his van."

Lauren stops her. "Is this about to get gross because I really would love not to hear it."

"No, it's not going to get gross." Cate tells her. "Okay, well, things led to another and I got pregnant."

Lauren starts laughing. "What? Good joke, you guys."

"No, Lauren. This isn't a joke. Look I was quarterback of the football team and I was a really big jerk. Your mom came and told me and I just told her to take care of it. I didn't want to be responsible for it."

"SO, I decided to put her up for adoption." Cate finishes.

"Hold up. Am I adopted?" Lauren asks them but then thinks about it. "Wait. No, I'm not sixteen."

"You have a sister." Ryan blurts out. Baze and Cate give him a look.

"What?" Lauren says in disbelief.

"Lauren, I was sixteen and I was in no shape or form to take care of a baby. I wasn't ready and I just couldn't do it alone!" Cate explains quickly. She knew Lauren was bound to blow up soon.

"Am I just something to clear your concious? Is that why you guys kept me? I mean I know you guys didn't mean to have me either, so why keep me?" Lauren asks them.

"Baby, I was four years older when I had you. I had a good job and felt like I was stable and responsible enough to take care of you." Cate explains.

"And I was old enough to take responsibilty for my actions. We never thought twice about giving you up." Baze assures her.

"Yeah, right. I was a mistake, too." Lauren says rolling her eyes. "Why are you guys telling me this anyway?"

"We found your sister. Well more like she found us." Baze says.

"Are you serious?"

"She is in our temporary custody. She wanted to be emancipated, but the judge granted us custody." Cate tells her.

Lauren looks around the room. "Then where is she?"

"She ran away from us.." Baze says quietly.

Lauren starts to laugh. "Seriousy? Wow. You guys are awesome parents." Lauren says walking away.

"Lauren, wait!" Cate says grabbing Lauren's arm and turning her back around.

Lauren pulls back away from Cate. "No! I could have had a sister. I still could have a sister, but you screwed up. Sounds like something you guys like to do a lot." Lauren says bitterly and walks away to her room.

"She did not just say that." Cate says more to herself but Baze and Ryan hear her.

"We have to find Lux." Baze says grabbing his jacket and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going find my daughter. You coming?" Baze says opening the door.

Cate looks at Ryan sadly. "Go find her. I'll stay with Lauren." Ryan tells her.

Cate gives him a smile as she runs and grabs her coat. She kisses Ryan quickly on the cheek then heads out the door with Baze.

Lux is walking down the streets with her bags in hand not exactly sure where she was going to go now.

Cate and Baze are in Baze's truck driving around. "I don't even know where to look for her at." Cate says mad at herself.

"Try calling Fern again."

"Baze, I called like ten times already. Fern doesn't know where Lux would go either. If we can't find her and actually take care of her, she'll be put back in foster care. Baze, I cannot have her in foster care. We just got her back!" Cate yells worriedly.

"Hey, Cate! We will find her and she will stay with us. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Baze. And Lauren is pissed at us. Both my daughters hate me. I'm such a great mother." Cate says sarcastically.

"Lauren loves you, and you know that. She goes to you for everything. She looks up to you. As for Lux, she will come to love you. We will show her that we can love her and take care of her. She's safe now." Baze assures her. Cate smiles at him. "What?" He asks confused.

"Your a good dad, you know that?" Cate tells him.

Baze shakes his head. "No, I don't know about that. I live above a bar remember."

"Yeah, but you still remember to pick up Lauren every morning for school and you're there for every game. Lux will love you."

Baze smiles at her. He never heard Cate tell him that before. "Thanks, Cate."

"Uh, hey, maybe she went to the bar." Cate says quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah, alright. We'll go check." Baze says driving off in the direction of his bar.

At Cate's, Ryan knocks on Lauren's door then opens it slowly. He sees Lauren laying on her bed holding a stuffed monkey Cate had given her when she was little close to her chest. Ryan walks over to her bed and sits next to her.

"Hey, kid."

Lauren turns her head towards him and gives him a small smile. Ryan could tell she had been crying.

"Hey." Lauren says nearly above a whisper.

"Your mom and dad went look for Lux." Ryan tells her.

"That's her name? Lux?" Ryan nods his head. "I wonder what it means."

"Well, maybe you can ask her when you meet her."

"I can't believe I have a sister." Lauren says sitting up. She scoots closer to Ryan and puts her head down on his shoulder. Ryan was like her second dad and she loved him a lot. When she was nine Cate and Ryan started dating, and like any other kid Lauren was unsure about it. She really wanted her mom and dad to be together, secretely she stills does, but Ryan was good to her and her mom, so she became okay with it.

"Yeah, me either. Your mom kept her a secret from everyone." Ryan tells her.

"I wonder if we look alike. Or if she'll even like me. Or if I'll even like her."

Ryan laughs. "I'm sure she will like you. You are very likeable, Lauren Bazile."

Lauren just smiles up at him.

At the bar Cate and Baze walk in after searching upstairs. "I figured she'd be here." Cate tells him.

"Yeah, me too."

"Oh my gosh. What if she is out there with no where to sleep. It's cold out there, Baze!" Cate was starting to panic. Baze grabs her by her shoulders and gets in her face.

"Cate! Calm down. I'm sure Lux is fine." Baze tells her. He lets her go and walks around his bar and grabs himself a beer.

Cate gives him a disgusted look. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I need a beer." He says grabbing another one and opening it. He puts it in front of Cate. "And you look like you need one, too."

"Baze, are you stupid? Our daughter is out there and you're having a beer?" She yells.

"Cate, I'm sure Lux is fine. And we're not going to find her tonight. We'll start back up in the morning. I promise you, I'm sure she is fine."

Cate sits down and drinks the beer Baze put in front of her. "Okay, but after this one you're taking me home. I need to talk to Lauren."

"Fine."

Two hours, and five beers later.

"I love Ryan." Cate says slurring her words clearly drunk. "I love my daughters, too. Ya know, I loved Lux as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I wish I could have kept her."

"You did the right thing, Cate."

"Did I? They told me she was going to be adopted. She wasn't adopted, Baze. I screwed up."

"You're not a screw up, Cate." He sits down next to Cate.

"Yes, I am. I kept her a secret from everyone. I'm horrible."

Baze takes Cate's hand. "You're not horrible." Cate looks at their hands then up at Baze's eyes. They slowly lean into eachother and start making out.

It's morning and Cate opens her eyes. She gets up fast and turns around seeing Baze on the side of her. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Cate gets up and starts grabbing her things while waking up Baze in the process.

"What is your problem?" Baze says clearly hungover.

"We did not just do this." Cate says putting her dress back on.

"Three times, actually."

"Shut up! I need to go home. Ryan and Lauren are probably wondering where the hell I am."

"Cate."

"Leave me alone, Baze!" Cate grabs her purse and runs out of Baze's place.

Outside Cate is running down the sidewalk as she trips over something. The person gets up and pushes the blankets off of her. Cate turns around and is surprised when she sees the person is Lux.

"Cate?"

"Lux, what are you doing here?" Cate asks her.

Lux gets up wrapping the blankets tighter around her and sits down on her luggage. Cate sits next to her.

"I was waiting for Baze to get back. What are you doing here? It's kinda early."

"We were looking for you. Why did you run away from us?"

"Look, Cate, you have a kid. You don't need another teenager around." Lux tells her.

"You're my daughter, Lux. I'm sorry I wasn't there. If I would have known that you weren't adopted then I would have helped you. You didn't need to go through all the things you've went through. And as for Lauren, I think she'd be happy to have you around. I'll probably stop bothering her so much." Cate jokes making Lux smile a little.

"I never had a family before." Lux says as she looks away.

Cate grabs Lux's chin to face her. "You have a family now."

Cate and Lux smile at eachother as Cate wraps her arms around Lux protectively as they sit in silence now.


	2. Ok, It's Alright With Me

After her talk with Lux, Cate headed home to face Ryan and Lauren. When she walks in she sees that Ryan is in the kitchen making breakfast. He turns around when he hears her close the door.

"Hey, where have you been? You've been gone all night!" Ryan says. He was worried all night that he could barely sleep. Ryan walks over to her and hugs her. Cate felt horrible about what she did, but she knew she couldn't say anything about it ever, because she couldn't lose Ryan, and it didn't mean anything.

"I know. I'm so sorry. Baze and I stayed out looking for Lux, and when we did, it turns out she was sleeping outside his bar the whole time." Cate explains.

"Well, where is she now?" Ryan says looking behind her.

"She stayed back with Baze. He is going to take her to school and pick her up. I wanted to talk to Lauren first before they came over. Where is she?"

"She's in her room."

"Okay, I will go talk to her, then we can leave for work." Cate says kissing Ryan gently on his cheek then going upstairs to Lauren's room. She didn't hear any movement going on in the room so she figured Lauren was still sleeping. Cate looks at her watch and sees that it's almost six. Lauren was going to wake up soon anyway, so Cate opens Lauren's door quietly and walks over to her bed. She lays down next to Lauren and starts rubbing Lauren's eyelashes with her fingers. That happens to be something they'd always do to wake eachother up since Lauren was a little girl, so they keep it going. Lauren starts squirming as she rubs her eye. When she opens her eyes she sees Cate staring at her smiling.

"You're so creepy." Lauren tells her.

Cate laughs. "I wanted to talk to you before I went into work."

Lauren sits up and faces her mom. "Where's Lux?"

"How you know her name?" Cate asks her. She remembered never saying Lux's name to Lauren.

"Ryan told me. Where is she? Did you find her?"

"Yeah. Your dad is taking her to school right now. They'll be over later." Lauren nods her head. "I'm sorry for ambushing you. I should have told you about her. She's your sister afterall. You had every right to know." Cate tells her.

"Yeah, I did. And I don't how fast I'll be able to get use to it either, but I understand why you gave her up."

"Really?"

"You were sixteen. You weren't ready."

"Yeah, I wasn't ready. I wanted a better life for her, but apparently that didn't happen." Cate sighs.

"So, she's staying with us?" Lauren asks her.

"Yeah. She'll stay on the couch until we figure out something."

Lauren gets out of bed and starts looking through her clothes. "Well, I better start getting ready for school. Dad's still picking me up?"

"Yeap." Cate walks over to Lauren and kisses her on her head. "Thank you for understanding." Lauren just nods her head and smiles at her mom. Cate walks out leaving Lauren with her thoughts. Lauren slams her drawer shut and breathes in deep. Truth is she isn't sure if she was ready to have a sister or not.

Baze and Lux are own their way to Lux's school. Lux is staring at Baze and kinda creeping him out.

"What are you staring at? Do I have something in my teeth?" He says looking in the rearview mirror.

"No." Lux laughs. "Do we look alike?"

Baze gives her a confused look. "Us? I don't know..I mean.."

"No, not us." Lux says interrupting him. "Me and Lauren. Do we look alike?"

Baze shrugs. "Well, she has brown hair, and you have blonde, which I think you get that from my mom. Um, you have the same smile, but she has Cate's eyes and it looks to me that you have mine."

Lux smiles thinking about what her little sister. "Does she know about me yet?"

"Yeah, she knows. We told her last night. She wasn't too happy that Cate kept you from her."

"I don't blame her." Lux says turning away.

Baze pulls up at the school, and Lux jumps out. She greets her friend that comes to meet her. Baze gets out and walks over to them.

"Hey, Tash." Lux says hugging her.

Suddenly a fight breaks out on the side of them and security rushes in to pull them all apart. Baze grabs Tasha and Lux close to him. When the fight is over Baze looks completely scared.

"What the hell?" He says.

"Don't worry. It's normal for Longfellow. Baze this is my best friend, Tasha. Tasha, meet my dad, Baze."

Tasha and Baze shake hands. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you, too." Baze says still shaking up by the event that just happened.

"Well, see you after school." Lux says waving goodbye and walking into the school with Tasha. Baze takes one last look around then goes back into his truck.

At the radio station Cate and Ryan are at their usual bickering to please the audience.

"Okay, you guys, we're going to take a break, and when we come back Cate is going to tell us how it feels to not only be a mother of one, but a mother of two daughters! Who would have thought our very own Cate Cassidy would be a mother at all. " Ryan says hurrying to get off the air so that Cate couldn't comment back.

"Very very funny, Ryan." Cate says throwing something random at her desk at him.

"What? Cate, the audience wants to know." He says trying to be serious without laughing.

Cate just rolls her eyes as she get on the computer and sees that her homepage has something written about Lux's school. 'Due to a gang fight outside of Longfellow High School, the school has been shut down.' Cate didn't even read the rest as she grabs her phone and quickly calls Baze.

"Hey, what's up?" He answers.

"You need to go pick up Lux from school. There was a gang fight outside and they are shutting it down." Cate explains to him nervously.

"Yeah, I know. I was there when it happened." Baze tells her.

"What! And you didn't take Lux back home?" Cate yells.

"Cate, security handled it and Lux said it was normal. Look I'm picking up Lauren right now, and I'll just pick up Lux when I drop Lauren off. Chill."

"Chill! Baze, there was gang fight at our daughter's school. Something could have happened to her." Cate was beyond furious at how calm Baze was being.

"Goodbye, Cate." Baze says as Lauren jumps into the front seat. "Hey, squirt."

"Hey, Dad. Was that Mom?" Lauren asks him.

"Yeah, I have to pick up Lux. Her school is shutting down."

"Why?"

"Gang fight."

"Hm, wow. So, will she like come to my school?" Lauren asks curiously.

"I don't know, kid. If your mom has any say in it, I'm sure." Baze tells her.

"How does it feel having another daughter?"

Baze smiles at her. "It's great. I'm glad to have her in my life. To get to know her." Lauren nods her head sadly and turns towards the window. Baze noticed how she pushed herself away after he said that. "Hey." Lauren looks back at him. "She won't replace you." Lauren just smiles and nods her head. She wasn't too sure about that.

They pull up at her school and Lauren gets out. "Bye, Dad."

Baze drives off and Lauren walks up to her friends. She wasn't sure how she'd explain her sister around school, to her friends.

At Baze's place, Lux and Baze are just hanging out. Lux is walking around looking at pictures of Baze and Lauren.

"So, this is Lauren?" She says holding up a picture frame.

Baze smiles. "Yeah, that's her. We took that at the park. I was teaching her how to play baseball." Baze says laughing at the thought.

"So, she's sporty?" Lux asks as she goes to another picture, but Lauren looked much younger, like around five or six.

"Well, not at baseball. She is a killer soccer player. We have no idea where she gets it from cause I suck at soccer and well Cate has no athletic gene in her."

"She's pretty." Lux says walking back over to him.

"Well, thank you. I can't wait for you two to meet."

"You think she'll even like me?" Lux asks nervously.

Baze sighs. "Well, she is her mother's daughter. Very stubborn. But I think she'll like you."

"Well, I'm not good at sports so we definitely won't be able to bond with that." Lux laughs.

"Do you make good grades?" Baze asks her.

Lux laughs. "Um, well, I don't make horrible ones."

Baze raises his eyebrows. "Cate is going to love this. Another one she can torture about grades. Lauren, is very very smart, but is she motivated? Definitely not. I think she gets that from me." Baze says laughing.

Just then the door opens and Baze's friend comes in.

"Math! hey."

"Hey, Baze. Oh hey, Lux."

"What's up?" Lux says smiling as Math collapse onto the couch.

"School's a drag. How was school for you?" Math asks her.

Baze looks at his watch. "Oh, crap! Come on, Lux. Cate is going to kill me." He and Lux grab their coats and run out.

At Cate's, Baze and Lux run in. Cate and Ryan turn around, and Cate runs over to Lux.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cate asks her.

Lux could tell Cate was worried. "Cate, I'm fine. I wasn't in the fight. This happens a lot. It'll open again."

Ryan coughs to get their attention. "Oh, Lux, this is Ryan, my fiance."

Lux shakes Ryan's hand. "Yeah, Ryan. I'm a big fan. I use to listen to you guys on the radio."

"Oh, really? Well, thank you."

The front door opens and they all turn around seeing Lauren walk through. Baze looks at his watch again realizing he forgot to pick Lauren up. "Damnit! Lauren, I am so sorry!" He says as Lauren walks up to them and he plants a kiss on her head.

"It's cool." She says.

"You forgot Lauren!" Cate yells.

"You forgot her, too! I didn't exactly see you asking about her!" Baze yells back.

"Mom; Dad, I'm here. I'm good." Lauren says just as she locks eyes with Lux.

Cate, Baze, and Ryan look at them stare at eachother waiting for something to happen between them. Lux wasn't sure what to say to her new-found little sister, and neither did Lauren. But Lauren could definitely tell she was related to her, because she could see same similarities they had. Like Lux's style, and they both have the same little dimple. Cate decided to get in the middle of them and break the silence.

"Lauren, this is Lux. Lux, this is Lauren." She says introducing them.

"Hi." Lauren says.

"What's up?" Lux says back.

Lauren and Lux weren't sure what else to say so they looked around at Cate and Baze for a little help. But Ryan was the one to step in.

"Are you guys hungry? We can order chinese?" He asks them.

"Ya know, that sounds great. Lux, do you eat Chinese?" Cate asks her.

"Yeah, sure." Lauren was still staring at Lux trying to find more similarities. Baze took notice in their awkwardness and pulls Lauren out of her gaze.

"Alright, well, I need to get back to the bar. You okay?" He asks Lux.

"Sure. I guess so." Lux tells him.

"Of course she's okay here." Cate says giving Lux a smile that creeped her out.

"Alright." He says kissing Lauren on her head. "I will see you two tomorrow." Baze leaves and Lauren decides to focus on something else. She walks into the kitchen and takes a bottle of water out the fridge. She sits on top of the counter and watches Ryan look through the menu and order the food over the phone.

"Hey, are you good?" Cate says coming behind Lux and places her hand on her shoulder. Lux jumps a little and Cate notices taking her hand away quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright, good." Cate starts cleaning off the dining room table. "So, I transferred you to Westmonte."

"What!" Both Lux and Lauren in a union.

"Look, I don't want you way across town and I really rather you somewhere safe. Plus, Baze and I went there and Lauren is going there."

"So, what?" Lux was furious that Cate did this without discussing it with her first. "My friends are at Longfellow. Are you serious right now?"

"Lux, come on. Don't you want to go to school where Baze and I went?"

"My friends are at Longfellow. Sorry, but I won't be attending." Lux says walking away and out the house.

"So, when is the chinese suppose to get here?" Lauren asks.

Ryan slaps Lauren with a magazine playfully as Cate sighs frustrated.

"What did I do wrong? Does she want to die at Longfellow?" Cate says walking into the kitchen.

"Okay. You're being a little dramatic." Ryan tells her.

"No, I think she's being a little dramatic."

Lauren walks out of the kitchen and grabs her bag out the living room. "I think you all are being dramatic. If she doesn't want to go to Westmonte, then don't make her. It's less I have to explain." Lauren says but saying that last part a little to herself but Cate hears her.

"What did you say?" Cate asks her.

"Don't worry about it. Don't worry about me. Whatever!" Lauren yells frustrated with this whole thing. She knew it wasn't Lux's fault that she was put into this dilemma, but her mom had no right to uproot her life, too.

Lux walks into her boyfriend, Bug's, place, where Tasha and her boyfriend, Gavin, are.

"Lux!" Bugs says quickly hugging Lux and kissing her softly on her lips. "Where have you been! Tasha told me you found your parents."

"Yeah, I found them alright. The judge granted them joint custody. She wouldn't give me emancipation. And now Cate transferred me to Westmonte without even asking me. " Lux tells them.

"What! She can't do that!" Tasha yells.

"Well, that's alright. We can still leave. You don't need them. You've been on your own all your life." Bug tells her.

"We can go to Mexico like we planned." Tasha reminds her.

Lux sighs. "I have a sister."

"So, what?" Gavin says deciding to speak up. "You don't know her and she doesn't know you. You don't need them. You have your savings and we have a couple hundred. We can leave and never come back. We don't have to deal with this crap anymore."

Lux shakes her head not knowing what to say or do. "I have a sister." She says walking out.

Lux walks into Cate's quietly hoping everyone was still asleep, but she wasn't that lucky. Cate is sitting on the couch waiting for her.

"Where you been?"

Lux takes her coat off and sits next to Cate on the couch.

"I went to my boyfriend's place." Lux tells her.

Cate was surprised. "You have a boyfriend?" Lux nods her head. "What's his name?"

"Bug."

"Bug?" Cate was not expecting that.

"Yeah. I was going to live with him before I found you guys." Lux tells her.

Cate sits up and scoots closer to Lux. "Lux, I want to apologize for earlier. You were right, I should have talked to you before I transferred you. I thought I was doing the right thing. I'm sorry. Next time anything we decide, we are going to decide as a family. You, me, Ryan, Baze, Lauren, we're going to do it together." Cate tells her.

Lux smiles. "Kinda like a family, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda like a family." Cate says smiling back at her.


	3. Smile Like You Mean It

It was morning and Cate and Ryan already left for work, leaving Lauren and Lux to fend for themselves for breakfast. When Lux wakes up, she sees Lauren sitting in the chair next to the couch looking at her with a weird look on her face.

"Do you always stare at people when they sleep?" Lux asks her as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

Lauren takes a sip of her coffee. "No. Just my new big sister." She says sarcastically.

Lux rolls her eyes and goes into the kitchen. "Where's Cate and Ryan?"

Lauren follows her and sits on the bar stool. "They went to work early. Some kind of meeting."

Lux looks in the refridgerator and sees that there is absolutely nothing in it. "Seriously?"

"Mom can't cook for nothing, so we usually order in, or make something out of the box." Lauren tells her.

Lux turns around clearly annoyed as Lauren smiles sarcastically at her and pushes a box of cereal and milk towards her.

An hour later the girls are waiting outside when Baze pulls up. Lux takes the front seat and Lauren takes the back.

"Hey, girls. How'd ya sleep?" He asks them.

"Fine." They say together as they both turn away and look out the window. Baze looks at them confused but decided maybe it was best not to ask anymore.

When they pull up at the school Lauren jumps out before they could really even stop.

"Bye, Dad!" She yells but Baze hurries and gets out.

"Hey, wait a minute." Lauren rolls her eyes and turns around. "You don't want to walk in with me and Lux?" He asks her.

Lauren looks at Lux, who is just getting out the car. She didn't look too thrilled about this either. "Dad, I have class." Lauren says looking back up at Baze.

Baze sighs. "Um, alright. I'm sorry. I'll see you later."

Lauren takes one last look over at Lux then she heads inside to find her friends.

At the studio Ryan and Cate are on break, so they are in the break room getting coffee.

"So, how's the attic coming along?" Cate asks Ryan.

"It's almost finished. Now all it needs is your magic touch." Ryan says as he kisses her on the cheek.

Cate laughs. "Do you think she'll like it?"

"I think she'll love it. I wish my parents would have put me up in the attic, maybe I wouldn't have heard all their fights." Ryan tells her.

"Lauren's mad at me. I mean I thought I'd have at least one daughter that wouldn't be mad at me, but of course, what was I thinking?" Cate says laughing at herself.

Ryan shakes his head, amused. "I just think Lauren doesnt know how to react yet to having a sister. I mean she doesn't hold all the attention anymore from you guys, now she has to share it."

"Yeah, but I love her just as much as Lux. She should know that."

"I know you do, but maybe Lauren isn't sure anymore."

Cate wasn't sure what to think about that. Lauren is her baby girl. The one she tells everything to, and vice versa. "I wonder how Lux's first day is going."

At the school Math met up with Baze and Lux as they walk in.

"And the cafeteria is that way." He says pointing to across the entry way. "Over there is the teacher's lounge, and right next door is my classroom. And over there is the office where you can get your schedule."

"Alright, cool. Thanks." Lux says as she notices a football picture in one of the window cases in the hall. She walks over to it and starts laughing. "No way. Is that you?" She asks Baze.

Baze gets closer to it to look. "Ha, yeah sure is. That was a great game."

"Yeah, for you. I had kleet marks on my face after that game." Math says as Baze laughs remembering those days.

"You look so young." Lux says looking back at the picture.

"What? Do I look old now?" He says trying to look at himself in the window case. "Ugh, anyways, I have to get back to the bar. You good here?"

"Yeah, I think I'll manage."

"Alright. See you later." He says walking away.

"Do you want me to introduce you to anyone?" Math asks her. Lux gives him a 'are you serious' look. "Ah, alright. Sorry. If you need anything I'll be in my classroom."

"Okay." Lux says smiling as Math walks away.

Lux looks around at the place. It was definitely bigger than Longfellow. Lux takes a deep breath, taking it all in, then she walks into the office to get her schedule.

A couple hours later Lux is walking aimlessely down the hall looking for her next class. When someone touches her shoulder Lux jumps up. She turns around and sees a guy with his hands up in surrender.

"I'm so sorry." He says.

"God, you scared the crap out of me." Lux says trying to catch her breath.

"I'm really sorry. You looked really lost, so I thought I'd help you. I'm Jones." He says putting his hand out for her to shake.

Lux takes it nervously. "Lux." She says smiling up at him. Jones is definitely hot. He has blonder hair and blue eyes. Every girls dream guy.

"I haven't seen you around. You new here?"

"Um, yeah. I use to go to Longfellow."

"Oh, I heard they closed down."

"Yeap, which is why I am here." She says obviously.

"So, um, let me check out your schedule. Maybe I can help." Lux hands him her schedule and he looks at it then smiles. "Your next class is History and it happens to be with me." Jones says handing Lux her schedule back. "Do you want to walk there together?"

Lux couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah, sure."

Lauren closes her locker and makes eye contact with Lux. They don't say anything to eachother as Lux and Jones pass Lauren on their way to class. Lauren's friends walk up to her and they are looking at Lux and Jones, too.

"Who's the new girl?" Sam asks. Lauren just keeps staring in the direction Lux walked to, but she was no longer there. "Lauren! Earth to Lauren Bazile."

Lauren snaps out of her gaze and looks at her friend. "Uh, sorry. Let's get to class." She says walking the opposite direction as quickly as she could.

At Baze's parent's house, Baze is eating while his mom is folding his laundry.

"Now why everytime you come over you eat like you're starving at that loft of yours?" His mom says chuckling.

Baze takes another big bite out of his sandwich. "Nah, I just store it for a long time until I come back here to store some more." He jokes.

"So, how is that grand-daughter of mine? I haven't seen her for quite some time."

"Oh, she's great. Soccer and school take up her time. She's like Cate, an over achiever." He tells her.

They hear the front door open and Baze looks up quickly.

"Oh, that must be your father." His mom says.

Baze gets up and kisses his mom on her head. "Thanks so much. But I have to go." He says grabbing his laundry basket, but he wasn't fast enough as his dad walks in.

"Nate, leaving so soon?" His dad says coming in and grabbing a drink out the fridge.

"Oh, hey, Dad. Um, I'll have the rent for the bar very very soon. Things are finally picking up." Baze tells him.

"Yeah, sure. You know I was listening to Cate this morning." He tells Baze.

"Oh, really? I didn't know you listened to the radio." Baze says.

"Um, yeah. So, when were you going to tell me that you had another daughter?" Baze was stumped, unsure what to say.

"What are you talking about?" His mom asks.

"Well, I heard that guy who host with Cate talk about how she has another daughter. I thought you made a mistake when you were twenty, but turns out you made a mistake before that when you were sixteen. Are you stupid!"

"Hey! Her name is Lux. Yeah, it was an accident, but she found us, so that means something!" Baze yells back at him.

"You were barely ready to take care of Lauren, do you really think you're ready to take care of two kids!" His dad yells. "I want to meet this Lux. You'll come for dinner tonight. You, Lauren, Lux, and Cate. The four of you will be here tonight at seven."

"What? Dad."

"Dinner or you lose the bar, Nate."

Baze was just lost of words at that moment. He couldn't believe his dad was doing this to him.

At school, Cate pulls up and gets out her car when her phone rings.

"What do you want, Baze?"

"My parents want us to have dinner with them tonight."

"Uh, what, no I.."Cate turns around and sees Baze walking towards the school. "..hey, I see you!" She says hanging up and running in his direction. "Why are you here? I'm picking up Lauren and Lux today, not you." She tells him.

"Uh, no. School is my thing. So, about dinner at my parents."

"No, Ryan and I want to have dinner with the girls on account of Lux's first day!"

Lauren walks over to them. "Hey, parents."

"Hey, sweetie. Where's Lux?" Cate asks.

Lauren points to the direction where Lux is walking over to a guy who just pulled up on a motorcycle.

"Who is that?" Baze says feeling his temper rising. Lux leans over and kisses him on the lips. "And why is she kissing him!"

Cate hits Baze in his chest. "Let's go!" Lauren rolls her eyes and leans against her mom's car as she watches them run over to Lux.

Cate and Baze are both running and yelling for Lux to step away from the motorcycle guy. Lux stops and rolls her eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening to her.

"These your parents?" Bug asks her.

"Cate; Baze, what are you doing!"

"Hey, you step away from her!" Baze tells Bug who doesn't move. He just looks at Baze like he's crazy.

"Wait, is this the boyfriend, Bug?" Cate asks her.

"Hold up. You knew she had a boyfriend named, Bug? Did you know he had a spider web tattoo on the side of his neck!" Baze asks Cate. "No offense." He tells Bug.

"Well, no, and I didn't know he drove a motorcycle either."

"Look Bug and I are just going to go hang out and have dinner." Lux tells them.

"I'll have her home by ten."

"Oh, no, no, no. I am making dinner and I went through a whole lot of trouble to get all the ingredients, so let's go." She says grabbing Lux's arm and pulling her to her.

"But what about my parents!" Baze yells at her.

"Take Bug!" Cate says as she and Lux walk hand in hand to the car, well more like Cate is pulling her to the car.

Baze looks at Bug and groans as he walks away to his truck.

At the house Cate and Lauren walk in with groceries and Lux is dragging Bug into the back room of the house. Ryan comes up and takes a bag from Cate.

"Hey, having Bug follow us was not apart of the plan!" Cate yells out at Lux who slams the door behind her.

"What's going on?" Ryan asks her. Baze walks in from the front door. Cate turns around.

"Apparently we don't know how to lock doors around here." She says as they all walk into the kitchen.

In the back room, Bug and Lux are sitting on the couch together.

"Tasha is talking about Mexico again." Bug tells her.

Lux smiles. "Tasha and Mexico."

"We can still go, Lux. I mean you're still sleeping on the couch, so apparently this place isn't permanent. You've been on your own all your life, and you never let anyone tell you what to do. So, are you going to let them? I mean they gave you up."

Lux sighs. She knew he was right. "Yeah, you're right."

"I know I'm right. These people aren't your family, Lux. We are. Tasha, me, and Gavin. We've been through everything together. The only people you can count on is us."

Lux just looked at him, unsure of what to say. She knew he was right, but something was telling her that things were about to change.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Ryan and Cate are cooking, while Baze is trying to convince Cate to go tonight. Lauren is just watching them bicker as she tastes everything Ryan is cutting up.

"Come on, Cate! My parents haven't seen Lauren in I don't know how long and if we don't go, I may lose the bar!"

"Does no means no mean anything to you!" Cate asks him as she cuts up the last of the carrots.

"You can't lose the bar!" Lauren yells.

"He isn't going to lose the bar." Cate assures her.

"So, does that mean your coming?" Baze says hoping for a yes, but Cate just gives him an evil look.

"Ya know, I think you should go, Cate." Ryan tells her

"What?" Cate was now confused. Ryan agreeing with Baze?

"Yeah, it'll give Lux a chance to know her grandparents, and let them meet their other grand-daughter. Plus, it'll get her away from whatever is happening in there." He says pointing towards the hall.

Cate and Baze look at eachother. "They are alone?" Baze asks them.

"Lux!" Cate yells.

"Something's burning." Lauren tells them. Cate looks around then rushes to the oven where the smoke is coming out.

"Oh, just great!" She says taking the meatloaf out of the oven and putting it on the counter. Ryan covers it with a towel.

"See this is a sign." Baze points out.

Cate rolls her eyes at him. "Lux, we're going to Baze's parents!" She yells.

Lux and Baze stop making out. "Can Bug come, too!"

"No!" Cate and Baze both yell back.

"Do I have to go? They already know me." Lauren asks them.

"Yes." They both say back to her.

Lauren rolls her eyes. She really couldn't stand her dad's parents. His dad was a complete jerk to her dad and his mom was just way too nice in a snobby way. Which is why she hasn't seen them, on purpose, since last summer.

At Baze's parents house, the four of them are walking towards the big house.

"I just don't understand why I couldn't bring Bug." Lux says annoyed.

"Look just do this thing for us one time." Cate tells her.

"This is so stupid."

"I agree." Lauren says as Cate pushes her towards the house.

"I'm not happy about this as much as you guys are." Cate tells them both just as the door opens.

"Here we go." Baze whispers.

His parents walk out and Lauren tries to hide behind Cate.

"Oh, you must be Lux!" Baze's mom says hugging Lux tightly. Lux could just smile and say hi. "Oh you have my hair. Nate, she has my hair. Aw, you look just like Baze."

Baze could see how uncomfortable Lux was getting so he looked over and grabs Lauren. "Hey, Mom, look it's Lauren." Baze struggles to get Lauren from in back of Cate.

"Lauren, you are looking just your mother every time I see you." She says hugging Lauren tightly.

"Heyyy, Grandma." Lauren says awkwardly.

Suddenly a car drives up and two women get out, running towards them yelling.

"Oh, no." Cate says surprised.

"Who's are they?" Lux chuckles.

"My family.."

"I brought the wine!" Cate's mom yells.

"This is going to be interesting." Lauren tells Baze as she laughs.

In the dining room everyone is sitting down at the table eating.

"You are just too cute." Cate's mom says to Lux as she takes another sip of her wine. Cate rolls her eyes at how embarassing her mom was being. This was not going to end well she thought.

"So, I can't believe this whole time we thought you and that weird guy from your science class had sex. I never would have pictured Nate Bazile, the quarterback, the father of your child." Cate's sister Abby says staring at her high school crush. Baze smiles awkwardly at her.

"Why? He's the father of Lauren." Cate reminds her.

"Yeah, but you guys were older and in his bar. You guys were drunk."

"Abby." Cate was about to explode. Lux looks over at Lauren who looked like she was just trying to pretend not to hear anything that was going on. That's when it hit her that Lauren has pretty much been going through the same thing she has been going through, minus the foster care part. She was a mistake. Lauren wasn't suppose to be born, just like herself, and she was sure Lauren was probably reminded about that by her grandparents all the time, cause she had to admit they weren't too good at being secrete about it.

"Are you two sure you are ready to take on another teenager? Lux could move in with me." Laverne tells them.

"Wow, cause your parenting skills were so stellar." Cate says not believing what she was hearing.

"I don't think I'd feel good about that." Baze's mom says. "I much rather her stay with me."

Lux had about enough of them talking about her and Lauren when they were sitting right there in front of them. "Uh, alright. Does anyone want any water or anything?" No one answered her so Lux got up and grabs Lauren up by her arm and they go into the other room.

"Ow!" Lauren yells.

"None of you have the right to tell us how we are going to raise our kids. Lux just came back into our lives. Do you really think we'd let you take care of her?" Baze yells at them.

"Nate, you can barely keep food in your loft."

"And I don't think Lauren is dead yet of starvation." He says sarcastically.

Baze's dad throws his napkin on the table. "I am done! I didn't know I raised such an irresponsible son! You can't even pay your rent on time! How do you expect to raise two daughters. Maybe if you got a real job, you'd be able to!"

Baze laughs. "No, I'm done!"

"What!"

"I'm done! I'm done with you and I will not sit here and take what you yell at me anymore. You try to throw the bar in my face everytime I screw up. As I remember you gave me that building and told me to make it into whatever I wanted. So, I did! Lux, just came into my life, and you know what, I'm glad she did. My daughters make me a better person and you have no right to tell me and Cate how to be parents because I think we are pretty damn good ones. No thanks to you! So, you want your bar? Take it. I don't need anything from you." Baze says getting up and leaving the room.

In the lounge room, Lauren and Lux are sitting against the wall, on the floor, next to eachother.

"So, are they always like this?" Lux asks Lauren.

Lauren smiles. "Every time." She tells her. "That's why we never visit. Grandpa is a jerk to Dad, and he doesn't deserve it."

"So, how much does Baze owe him?"

"Why? Are you going to pay his rent?" Lauren asks her amused at the thought.

Lux shrugs. "Maybe."

Lauren looks at her. "3,200." Lux nods her head. "I seen you with Jones today."

"Um, yeah, he was helping me find my classes. Why is everyone so obessed with him?" Lux asks her.

Lauren laughs. "He's the quarterback and he's hot. What do you think?" Lux smiles now understanding everything.

"Lauren..." Lux starts to say something but is interrupted by Cate.

"Come on, girls, we're leaving."

Lauren and Lux give eachother one last look then stand up and follow Cate out. Lauren wasn't sure what Lux was about to say to her, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it either.

Later that night, Ryan comes down from the attic into the living room where Cate is going through paperwork, Lauren is reading a book, and Lux is going through her ipod.

"Hey, um, Cate, it's ready." Ryan says smiling at them. Cate smiles excitedly as she stands up. Lauren and Lux look at them weirdly.

"What's going on?" Lux asks them.

"Well, Lux, Ryan and I have been working on something for you. Wanna check it out?" Cate asks.

Lux quickly gets up and follows Ryan out of the living room. Cate stops and turns towards Lauren.

"Lauren, I want you to be apart of this, too." She says smiling. Lauren smiles back at her and gets up and follows Cate up to the attic.

Lux is the first to get up there as she is quickly mesmerized by the room. It was her bedroom. Her own bedroom.

"I wasn't quite sure what you liked so I kinda guessed. Oh, I went through your ipod and got a few posters to put on your wall." Cate tells her.

Lux looks at the posters and is instantly confused. "Who's the Spin Doctors?"

Cate sighs. "Um, it was the song that was playing when you were conceived." She says embarassed. Lux winces at the thought.

"Okay, gross."

"Why didn't you guys tell me? I would have helped." Lauren says as she looks around.

Cate was surprised. "Really? You would have helped?"

"Sure." She says smirking at Lux.

"So, you like it?" Ryan asks her.

"Yeah."

"I mean if you don't like it we can return some things and get whatever you want. It's totally up to you." Cate tells her.

Lux looks at them. She was so grateful. She wasn't sure how she could thank them. "No, it's perfect." She tells them with a big smile on her face. 


	4. A Good Start

It's morning and everyone is up in the kitchen eating breakfast. Cate is getting paperwork together and Lauren is following her around trying to get her to sign a paper she is holding.

"Okay, remember that Fern is going to be here when you get off of school, so no going meet Bug. Baze is going to take you straight here." Cate tells them.

"Mom, I need you to sign this. Can you stop moving for like a second, please."

Cate stops and takes the paper away from Lauren. She sees that it's a test and Lauren made a C on it. "A D, Lauren? Really?"

Lauren shrugs. "What? I suck at math, sue me."

"How can you be bad at math? I was great at math."

They hear Baze honk the horn outside.

"That's Baze." Lux says grabbing her things.

"I'm not you. So, can you please sign it so I can go." Lauren asks her mom as she hands her a pen.

Cate takes the pen and signs. She was really disappointed. "Fine. Bring your stuff home tonight. I'll help you." She says giving Lauren her test back.

"No, thanks." Lauren mumbles as she grabs her things and follows Lux out the house.

Cate sighs. She didn't know what was going on with Lauren, well, she did. Ever since Lux came, Lauren had been acting out and not herself. She and Lux barely said one word to eachother, or at least not in front of her.

"What has got into her? She use to have no trouble in school." Cate says getting her things together.

"Are you serious?" Ryan laughs. "Cate, Lauren is horrible at math. I mean she got through it but she wasn't good."

"Oh my gosh. I'm a horrible Mom." Cate groans.

Ryan comes up behind her and puts his arms around her waist. "No, you're a great Mom. It's just going to take some time. Okay? Trust me on this." He says kissing her on her cheek.

Cate turns around in his arm and smiles at him. "I trust you." She says kissing him on his lips passionately. Cate pulls back quickly when she has a flashback of her and Baze, the night at the bar, having sex.

"Hey, you okay?" Ryan asks her. Cate comes back and looks up at Ryan. She could see he was really worried. Cate gives him a fake smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We're going to be late." She says grabbing her things.

Ryan wasn't sure to believe her or not, but he let it go, for now.

At school Lauren closes her locker when her friend Sam walks up to her.

"So, why was the new girl getting out of your dad's truck?" Sam asks her.

"Hey to you, too, Sam." Lauren says avoiding the topic. She figured this would come up sooner or later.

"Answer the question, Lauren. Who is she to you?"

"She's my sister." Lauren tells her as she avoids eye contact as they walk down the hall.

"Your step-sister, right? Ryan has a kid?"

Lauren laughs. "My mom and Ryan aren't married."

"You're avoiding the question."

"My mom and my dad had a baby when they were sixteen. She was put up for adoption, and now she's back. Lux was that baby. There. Question answered." Lauren says walking away. Sam just stood there stunned.

Lauren couldn't believe she just told her best friend about Lux. She knew she'd have to explain later, but she just was not feeling up to it right then and there.

Outside Lux sees Jones' talking to some girls. She could hear them talking about a party.

"Hey." She says walking up to them. Jones turns around and smiles.

"Oh, hey, Lux. What's up?"

"I don't know. You tell me. Who's having a party?"

Jones sighs. "Well, Rich bailed. We were suppose to have the party at his house, but his parents are coming in from out of town a day early. So, right now the party is a no go." He explains.

Lux stares at Jones smiling. She knew what she was about to say was probably a bad idea, but if she was going to stay at this school, she had to find some way to fit in. "I know a place."

"Really where?"

"My dad's loft. It's big enough and definitely party material. You down?"

"Totally. Thanks, Lux."

"No problem." Lux walks away from them, smiling, not sure what she got herself into, but she was glad she did.

After school Lauren is waiting at the curb for Baze, when Lux walks up to her.

"So, party at Baze's tomorrow." She tells Lauren.

Lauren looks at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Jones needs a place to have his party, soo, why not have it at Baze's? It's big and it's just a few people."

"Jones doesn't know just a few people. How are you going to get that by mom and dad?" Lauren asks her.

"Well, first of all Cate doesn't need to be involved. And it's Baze, he'll totally be cool with it." Baze drives up and gets out his truck. He throws his keys to Lux. "What is this?"

"Well, you need to learn to drive, so I'm going to teach you." He tells her.

"Uh, no, no, no. I never drove before in my life." Lux says hesitating.

"You're sixteen. You're going to be driving soon, so you need to learn. Get in." Baze says getting into the front seat. Lux was suddenly really nervous and unsure about this, but she obeyed Baze and got into the driver's seat.

"Lauren, get in." Baze says noticing Lauren hadn't moved from her spot on the sidewalk.

Lauren was just in shock that her dad even handed his keys to Lux. No one ever drove his truck. "Um, I think I'll walk. I don't really feel like dying today."

Lux gives her a fake laugh and Lauren does it right back. "Oh, come on." Baze says.

Lauren rolls her eyes and jumps into the backseat.

"Okay, now put it in drive and slowly ease off the brake and onto the accellerator." Baze tells her. Lux does as she's told but it doesn't go smoothly. She's presses down really hard on the accelerator. "Brakes!" Lux slams on the brakes fast making them all fly forward in their seats.

"Oh my gosh!" Lauren yells. "I'm going to die.."

"Alright just do it again, but really slow."

Lux does it slower than before and they ease out onto the road really slow.

At Cate's, Cate is outside trying to make her house look better than before for Fern. So, she is planting in the front yard. She looks up and sees Lux driving Baze's truck, with Baze in the front seat, and Lauren with her hands covering her eyes in the backseat. Cate steps back completely surprised, angry, and scared.

"Why is she driving!" Cate yells at them.

"It's okay. She's driving slower than old people!" Baze yells back out the window. "Come on, Lux, you can go faster than this."

"I don't know, Baze." Lux was completely fightened.

"It's okay." Lux presses down a little harder on the accelerator, well, so she meant to, she ended up going faster than she expected and was having a hard time finding the brake. "Brake! Brake! Brake, Lux!" Baze yells.

"Oh my gosh!" Lauren yells from the backseat.

Cate could see that Lux was about to lose control, so she backs away. "Baze, help her!" She yells. But before Baze could stop the truck, Lux ran right into the curb and into Cate's plant, breaking the vase and everything.

Lux jumps out and runs over to Cate. "I am so sorry, Cate! Are you okay!"

"Why did you let her drive!" Cate yells at Baze.

"What? She was doing good!"

"Really!" Cate says pointing to her now broken vase.

Lauren gets out the truck very slowly. "Oh my gosh. I made it. I'm alive." She says walking over to her parents and Lux.

Lux rolls her eyes at her. "You're being a little dramatic."

"No. Remind me never to ride with you ever again."

"Baze, are you an idiot! She doesn't even have her permanent yet! Or taken driver's ed!"

"Cate, chill out! We'll get this all cleaned up for you before Fern shows up." They hear a car door close and they all look up. Fern is standing near her car looking at them. "Or not."

Inside Fern is looking in every room as Cate and Baze follow her. Lauren and Lux stay behind on the couch waiting for the verdict.

"Well, everything looks good. Where does Lux sleep?" Fern asks Cate.

"Well, we recently fixed up the attic for her. So, she has her own nice spacious, uh, space for herself." Cate laughs.

"Mhm." They walk back into the living room. "Lux, how are you doing here?"

"Hey, it's better than the other crappy ones." Lux tells her half jokingly and half serious. Fern looks at Cate and Baze who quickly smile.

Fern looks over at Lauren who is in her own little world. "Lauren, how about you? Are you adjusting to having a sister?" When Lauren doesn't say anything Lux nudges her.

"Hm, what?" Lauren says coming out of her daze.

"I asked how you like having Lux here." Fern tells her.

"Oh, um, it's great! I love having a sister." She says trying to be as convincing as she could.

"Well, I think I've seen enough. Mr. Bazile does Lux stay with you, too?"

"Oh, um, no not yet. I'm kinda working on her room right now." Baze tells her.

Fern nods. "Alright, well, please let me know how that turns out. You'll hear back from me in a few weeks, or Lux, if you need me. You know how to reach me." Fern tells her.

Lux smiles and nods her head as Fern turns away and leaves.

"Oh my gosh. I never thought that would end." Cate says taking a breath of relief.

"Yeah, I know. She's kinda scary." Baze says. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"He is at the station waiting for my call. He figured he'd give the four of us privacy for the inspection."

In the background, Lux nudges Lauren and gives her a stern look. Lauren shrugs her shoulders, confused. Lux nudges her again.

"Okay, okay." Lauren whispers standing up and walking over to her parents. Lux follows far behind. "Hey, Dad, since it's my weekend, well, our weekend, me and Lux's weekend now, um, can we have a few friends over please?" She says quickly.

Baze and Cate look at eachother. "Um, I don't see why not."

"Lux, you made new friends?" Cate says happily. "That is so good!"

Lux walks over and stands beside Lauren. "Um, yeah, just a couple. It's not a big deal."

"No, it's a very big deal! I knew you could do it. Just like I know Lauren will be able to get an A in math after I get through with her!" Cate says as Lauren groans.

"Mom, seriously!"

"Yeah, come on. Let's go get your math book and you can show me what you're having trouble with. Come on!" She says pushing Lauren towards the living room. "I hate you." She tells Lux.

Lux and Baze laugh as they watch Cate force Lauren to sit on the couch.

Couple hours later, Baze left, and Lux went into her room, leaving Lauren and Cate in the living room. Cate is going on about a problem in math and Lauren is just staring at her not having a clue what she's talking about.

"So, do you want to try to do it this time?" Cate asks her as she hands Lauren the notebook.

"Try what?" Lauren was beyond confused.

"The problem. Lauren, were you listening to anything I was saying?" Cate was getting frustrated herself.

"Listening, yes. Understanding, no. Mom, I'm never going to get this."

"Yes, you will! I have faith in you. Alright, come let's try it again." Cate says taking the notebook from her when Ryan walks in.

"Honey, I'm home." He says laughing. He walks into the living room and sees how miserable Lauren is. "Having fun, Lauren?"

Lauren rolls her eyes. "Thank God your here, Ryan. Mom, I will study in my room. You haven't seen Ryan all day." Lauren says taking all her stuff and running out of the living room. Cate sighs exhausted.

Ryan and her sit down on the couch together. "Long day?" Ryan asks her.

"The longest. Baze tried teaching Lux how to drive!"

Ryan laughs. "How did that go?"

"Well, did you see my front yard? Oh, and I think Fern even hates me now."

"The inspection didn't go well?"

"No, I think it went fine. How come Baze is the cool parent?" Cate asks him.

Ryan was now confused. "What are you talking about?"

Cate sighs. "Well, Lux and Lauren want to have friends over, but at Baze's. What's wrong with my place?"

"Well, it is Baze's weekend. So, I don't think it's a matter of who's cool or not."

"Really? It feels like it. Baze is like their pal, their buddy. I'm just the annoying, embarassing Mom. I use to be cool to Lauren, but what the hell happened?"

"I think Lauren is just at that age right now where she just wants to be alone. Ya know? I went through it. You said you went through it."

"Not by choice." She points out.

"Okay, but maybe Lauren just needs time to get use to this having a sister thing by herself before she can really let you in on how she feels about it. And Lux, well, Lux has her own issues, and soon enough I think she'll trust you guys to let you in on that, too." Ryan tells her.

Cate smiles at him. "You promise?"

"I promise." He says as he kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The next day Lux and Lauren are busy packing their bags for Baze's place. Cate walks into the bathroom where Lux is doing her make up.

"Hey."

"Hey, Cate."

"So, um, are you all packed?"

"Yeap." Lux looks over at Cate who was just watching her do her make up. "Um, are you okay?"

"What? Who? Me? Yeah, I'm fine. So, why didn't you guys want to have the party here?" Cate asks her.

Lux smiles. She knew exactly what was going on now. "Well, it is Baze's weekend."

"Yeah, I know, but I totally would have let you have a party here."

"Thanks, but it isn't a party. Just a few people over. And Baze's has more room. It's like one big room." Lux explains to her.

"Oh, alright." The doorbell rings. "Baze is picking you up? I thought I was bringing you?"

"You are. I don't know who that is." Lux says walking out the bathroom to answer the door. When she does Bug and Tasha are outside smiling at her. "Bug, Tash, what are you guys doing here?"

"We have a surprise for you." Tasha tells her.

"What?"

"Yeah, go get dress."

"I can't I have to go to Baze's."

"We barely see you anymore. We thought we could hang tonight." Bug tells her.

Lux wasn't sure what to say. She knew it would be a bad idea to invite them to the party. "I'm sorry, guys. I promise tomorrow we'll hang. I just, I have to go. Baze is really excited since it's my first weekend over."

Tasha and Bug looked pretty bum. "Alright, we understand." Bug tells her.

"Thanks." Tasha hugs her.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Bug says kissing Lux then they leave.

"Lauren, Lux, get a move on. We're leaving for Baze's in ten minutes!" Cate yells.

At Baze's, Lauren and Lux walk into the loft. The bar was about to open so Baze and the guys were downstairs getting everything ready.

"Okay, so what do we need to do?" Lauren asks Lux.

Lux shrugs. "I guess we wait for them." The door opens and Jones and other people walk in. "And the waiting stops. Hey, guys." Lux says greeting them.

"Hey, Lux. Man you were right. This place is great!" Jones says looking around.

"Thanks. Oh, this is my sister, Lauren." Lux says pointing to Lauren.

Lauren waves. "What's up, guys?"

"Yeah, I've seen you around school." Jones says.

"Yeah, I've seen you, too. Quarterback, right?"

"Yeah." Jones laughs. "I guess that's what I'm known for."

"So, where's the alcohol?" Jones' friend asks Lux.

"You didn't bring any?" Lux asks, confused.

"We thought your dad owns a bar." Jones asks her.

"He does."

"Well, he has alcohol, doesn't he?"

Lux goes downstairs and finds Baze, Math, and Jamie with turtles.

"Dude, this one only has three legs." James tells Math.

"That won't stop him." Math says completely sure.

"What's up, kid?" Baze says when he sees Lux approaching them.

"Can I have the key to the supply closet?" She asks him.

"Yeah, sure." He says handing her the keys, but pulls back. "What do you need in the closet?"

Lux smiles. "Chips, soda, and stuff."

"Ookay." He says letting go of the keys.

Lux walks away, taking one last look over at Baze, then she heads to the closet to get the alcohol.

An hour or so later, there's more people in the loft than before, and they are playing beer pong, and other alcohol games. Jones, Lux, and his friends are playing beer pong while Lauren watches.

"Who knew you were awesome at beer pong?" Jones says laughing as Lux makes the ball in a cup again.

"I didn't even know."

Jones' friend looks over at Lauren. "Hey, you want to be my partner?"

Lux looks over at them. "Um, no. I need her to go get something for me." Lux tells him.

"Oh, come on, Lux. Let your sister have some fun."

Lauren didn't think this was a good idea. She knew her dad would completely go crazy if he came up and seen that everyone was drinking, but she figured he wasn't up there yet so they might as well have as much fun as they could before it was stopped.

"Yeah, Lux. Let me have some fun." Lauren grabs a cub of beer and downs it.

"Oh, yeah. She's definitely on my team." He says laughing and pulling Lauren closer to him.

"Lux?" Lux turns around and sees Baze and Tasha.

"Uh, what are you guys doing here?" She asks them, nervously.

"This is what you ditched us for? To hang out with your spoiled abercrombie friends?" Bug asks her.

Lux could tell they were both angry. "No, it's not like that."

"It looks like it to me."

"We were going to come break you out. Figured you were bored. Clearly, you're not." Tasha says. She looks over at Lauren who is taking a shot. "Isn't that your sister? She's like twelve, right?"

"Thirteen next month. Here, have a beer!" Lauren says handing her a cup.

Down at the bar, Cate walks in as the guys are yelling at the turtles to race.

"Dude, this isn't working." Jamie says annoyed.

"It's okay! Just give them time! It's just difficult to do with everyone watching." Math tells them.

"Or when you only have three legs."

Baze turns around and sees Cate trying to sneak upstairs.

"Cate, what are you doing?"

Cate freezes, then turns around. "Oh, hey, Baze. What's up?" She laughs nervously.

"You were going to sneak up there and be nosey. You don't trust me or something?"

"Well, if you really want me to answer that question, um,..."

Baze stops her. "No, I don't. Don't go up there. Leave them alone."

"Fine, fine. Okay."

Baze walks away back to his friends.

"We need someone to go outside and start telling people about this, man." Jamie tells Baze.

Baze looks around and sees that only four people were in the bar. "Uh, fine. I will."

Upstairs, Cate walks in and sees that more than just a few friends were over, and they were drinking. Yeah, she definitely couldn't trust Baze, she thought. Cate walks around all the kids and sees Lux and Lauren playing beer pong. She runs over to them and quickly takes the cup out of Lauren's hand before she could drink it.

"Mom!" Lauren yells.

"Cate!" Lux yells.

"A few friends, Lux? Really?" Cate yells.

"Man, that's your mom? She's hot!" One of the guys tell Lux.

Outside Baze is standing on the sidewalk. "Hey, one night only, turtle races! Come get your bet and have a drink!" Everyone ignored him and just walked passed him. Suddenly, a vase crashes down onto the ground from above him. Baze looks up, then quickly runs up to the loft. When he walks in he sees everyone drinking and dancing. He starts taking cups away then he walks over to the stereo and turns it off.

"Everyone out! Party is over!" Baze yells.

"Lauren, are you drunk!" Cate yells.

"It's okay! I'm fine." Lauren says slowly. She was really drunk. Baze walks over to them.

"Lux, are you an idiot! Do you know how much trouble I can get into! I could lose the bar for good, and possibly go to jail!" Baze yells at her.

"I'm sorry, Baze, I didnt mean.."

"You're sorry! Me too!"

"Hey, Daddy!" Lauren says waving at Baze. Cate grabs Lauren as she stumbles to her side.

"Alright, I'm taking you both home." Cate says grabbing Lauren.

"I don't want to go! Mom, please!" Lauren begs.

Everyone is starting to clear out of the loft, and Lux wasn't really sure what else to say. She never heard Baze really yell before, specially at her. She was scared to fight back.

"Lauren, you're drunk!" Baze asks her.

"No."

"Yes, she is." Cate says.

"Lux!"

"I'm sorry, Baze!"

"Just get out of my face. I don't even want to look at you." He says more calmly then before.

Lux grabs her jacket and storms out. Baze picks up Lauren and brings her out to Cate's car. "Baze.." Cate starts but Baze stops her.

"Call me if she makes it home." Baze tells her, then he closes the back door and walks away.

Lux is sitting on the curb when Bug walks up to her and sits down next to her.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Great party." Bug laughs.

Lux rolls her eyes. "Baze hates me."

"Maybe it's time we leave then. I know you think you need to stay because of your sister, but do you really think they'll leave you two alone now, since you let her get drunk. " Bug asks her.

"What am I going to do? I was just trying to make friends."

"I don't think you have to worry about that anymore. Lux, you're not like those people. You're different. You're one of us, and it'll always be that way. You're just damaged."

"Damaged? That's what you see when you look at me?" Lux asks him.

"We're all damage. That's what I mean." He tells her. "Lux, lets leave tonight. You don't belong here."

Lux just looks at him. She felt horrible. The last thing she wanted was to make Baze angry and to hurt Lauren. Maybe Bug was right. Maybe she didn't belong here. It would probably be better if she left.

At Cate's, Cate helps Lauren through the door. Ryan walks up to them.

"What's going on?" He asks her.

"Turns out the few people turned into a party with alcohol." Cate tells him.

"She's drunk!" Ryan yells. Cate nods her head.

"I think I'm going to throw up!" Lauren yells covering her mouth with her hand and running to the bathroom. Cate was close behind to help her.

An hour later, Lauren finally stopped throwing up, and Cate got her to lay down and go to sleep. Lux walks in and sees Cate sitting on the couch.

"You're still up." Lux says.

"Yeah. I was waiting for you. Where you been?" Cate asks her.

"I was with Bug." Lux says turning away and going up to her room.

Cate follows her up there and sees Lux taking out a bag and packing her clothes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm packing."

"Why? Where do you think you're going?"

"Away. I hurt too many people here. I get my little sister drunk, Baze is so mad at me, and you.. I just need to go." Lux says continuing to pack her things.

Cate walks up to Lux and stops her. "You're not going anywhere. I meant what I said when I said that we are family and we were going to make decisions together and deal with our problems together. So, you're not leaving."

"Cate.."

"You're grounded. No phone, and no computer, oh, and no Bug." Cate tells her.

"What! Cate, that's not fair!"

"Tell the my twelve year old who will have a killer hangover in the morning. Lux, do you know how serious things could have got!" Cate asks her.

"I know! I screwed up! I'm sorry! You just wanted me to make friends so bad, I figured this was the best way to do it!" Lux confesses.

Cate couldn't believe Lux was doing that for her. "Lux, you don't ever need to prove anything to me. Do you hear me? I will want you no matter what. You're my daughter. You're mine. And I love you."

"You don't even know me."

"But I want to get to know you." Lux sits down on her bed. "So, your grounded. You're not going anywhere this time." Cate says kissing Lux on her forehead then turning away and leaving Lux's room. Lux was trapped in her thoughts. No one's ever grounded her before. It actually felt like she had parents now, and it felt good. 


	5. Just A Ride

It was the day after the party and the house was pretty quiet. Lux felt really bad about everything, so she decided that today she was going to make up for it. Cate and Ryan were out, and Lauren was still laying in bed, so Lux took this opportunity to talk to Lauren.

She opens the door slowly, and peeks in seeing Lauren sprawled out in bed, sleeping. Lux walks in slowly holding some medicine and a glass of water, but she ends up hitting her foot on Lauren's bed making a loud noise.

"Ow! Crap!" Lux yells.

Lauren squirms, waking up, and turning over find Lux hopping on one foot. "What are you doing?"

Lux looks up and lets out a nervous laugh. "Oh, hey, you're up. Sorry."

"It's okay." Lauren says sitting up. "Ah, major headache." Lauren grabs her head and groans.

Lux laughs and tosses Lauren the asperin she was holding. "Take two. You'll feel a little better."

"Thanks." Lauren says opening it and taking two pills like she was told. Lux goes and sits down on Lauren's bed, facing Lauren.

"So, I'm pretty new at this whole family thing, and I don't know all the rules, but how long does Cate's punishments usually last?" Lux asks her.

Lauren laughs. "She grounded you!" Lux nods. "Wow. Well, if she didn't give you a limit on your punishment then it's not going to last too long. Don't worry." Lux nods her head, understanding.

"Lauren, I know we got off on a rocky start, but I had fun with you last night." Lux confesses.

Lauren smiles. "Yeah, me too."

They hear the front door downstairs close and then Cate and Ryan talking.

"Lauren; Lux!" Cate yells.

"If it makes you feel better, I pretty sure I'm in trouble, too." Lauren tells her as they both head out the bedroom door.

Downstairs Cate and Ryan are putting groceries away as Lauren and Lux walk in.

"It's about time you get some food in here." Lux says as she and Lauren sit down on the barstools. Lauren lays her head down, still feeling her head pounding.

Cate and Ryan look at her and laugh. "Hangover sucks, doesn't it?" Ryan asks her.

"Does it ever stop?" Lauren whines.

Cate smiles. "Uh, yeah, probably in two weeks because that's how long you're grounded for."

Lauren looks up at Lux. "I told you."

"So, Cate, am I allowed to go to Baze's, or do you want to keep me in the house forever?" Lux asks her.

Cate rolls her eyes. "As much as I would love to keep you here, I can't. Baze is your father afterall."

Lux smiles, satisfied with that answer.

"Alright, how about chicken tonight?" Ryan says as he picks up the raw chicken meat. Lauren looks at him disgusted.

"Oh my gosh. I hate you." She says covering her mouth with her hand, and running to the bathroom to throw up. Cate and Lux start laughing.

"So, I guess she's not eating it?" Ryan says joining in on their laughter.

Later, Lux is walking down the street, over to where Bug and Tasha are hanging out.

"Hey!" Bug says greeting Lux with a hug. "I thought Cate grounded you?"

Lux laughs. "Yeah, she did. But she said I could only go to Baze's."

"Well, then, why are you here?" Tasha asks her.

"Nice to see you, too, Tash." Lux says sarcastically.

Tasha rolls hers eyes. "I'm just saying. This isn't Baze's. You're not worried Cate will find out you're here?"

"I'm not worried, but she won't find out either. She can't keep me away from you guys. You're my family, too." Lux tells them.

"Yeah, you're right." Bug says. "So, how's your sister doing? Did she get grounded, too?"

Lux nods. "Yeah, two weeks. She has a pretty killer hangover right now."

Tasha laughs. "I kinda like your new little sister. Who knew she could party?"

"Well, that's the last time she will party for a long time. It was kinda scary."

"Look at you trying to be the over-protective big sister."

"Not protective. I don't want to get into anymore trouble, that's it." Lux tells her. "Actually, Bug, the reason why I'm here is because I need your help with something."

"With what?"

"I need a ride."

At Baze's, Baze and Math are just waking up and are starting to clean up the loft from the party Lux and Lauren had the night before.

"I feel really bad for yelling at Lux the way I did last night." Baze says, regrettable.

"I'm sure Lux understands." Math assures him.

Baze sighs. "Dude, I never yelled at her before! She probably hates me now."

"I doubt Lux hates you. Why don't you just call her?"

"I did. She didn't answer." Baze says defeated.

At Cate's, Lauren is in the living room on the couch, covered in a blanket, looking miserable when Cate walks in. Cate took one look at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you still feeling bad?" She asks her.

Lauren nods her head pathetically. Cate sits on the side of the couch, smiling down at Lauren.

"Well, I hope you learned your lesson."

"I did. I'm never drinking ever again."

"That's what I like to hear." Cate laughs. "Where's Lux?"

"I think she went to Dad's. She said would be back later. She really feels bad about what happened." Lauren tells her.

Cate frowns. "Well, why did she do it then?"

Lauren sits up slowly. "She never knew it was going to get that big. Lux only invited a few people, and Jones brought a ton of people. She just wants to fit in, and as much as I'm still not exstatic that she's here, I kinda feel bad for her." Lauren explains.

Cate sighs. "Why are you not happy that she's here?"

"I didn't say I wasn't happy. I just said I wasn't exstatic. I don't know. I'm not use to it yet."

"Well, it's only been a month. I'm sure things will get better." Cate assures her.

"You don't know that. Mom, you think everything is okay with Lux. It's not. The girl has issues."

"Did she tell you that?" Cate asks her, curiously.

"Mom, we may have not grown up together, but I'm her sister. I can kinda tell. And I think her main issue is with you."

Cate felt like a knife was just stabbed right into her chest. Lauren could see something was bothering Lux, but Cate, who was her mother, couldn't. She makes a mental note to try to talk to Lux. Cate decides to change the subject back to Lauren.

"So, how's that math coming?"

Lauren puts on her best sad face. "I'm sick." She says sinking down lower into her blanket. Cate just shakes her head, laughing.

Bug and Lux pull up at Baze's parent's house, on the motorcycle. Lux gets down and sees that Baze's dad is about to get into his car. She runs over to him.

"Hey, wait!" She yells. Baze's dad looks at her, confused.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sup, Gramps?" Lux says smirking at him.

Baze's dad couldn't help but smile back. "Does my son know you're here?"

"Look I've only been with Baze for almost a month now, but I have to say that he's a better father than I've ever had in my foster homes. He's a good guy, and though he may not seem as responsible as you want him to be, he's a pretty responsible dad when it comes to me and Lauren. He wants the best for us, just like deep down I know you want the best for him. So, here you go." She says handing him an envelope.

"What's this?" He asks, taking the envelope.

"It's his rent money. He loves that place. Don't take something he loves away from him." Lux tells him, as she turns away and walks back to Bug.

Baze's dad didn't really know what to say, as he watched his new found grand-daughter walk away. He opens the envelope and takes out the 3,200 that is in it.

At Baze's, Baze is watching tv when his phone rings.

"Hello, Cate." He answers.

"Baze, is Lux still there?" She asks.

Baze looks around his place confused. "What? Lux isn't here."

"What do you mean? She told Lauren she went over to your place." Cate could feel herself getting angier by the second.

"Cate, she never came here."

"Are you kidding me!" Cate yells.

"I'll fine her!" Baze tells her. He quickly hangs up, grabs his jacket, and runs out of the loft.

Cate slams the phone down on the counter, when Ryan walks in.

"What's going on?" He asks.

"Lux lied. She didn't go to Baze's! She's grounded, and she didn't go to Baze's!" Cate yells.

Ryan grabs her by the shoulder. "Whoa. Okay, calm down. Where is she?"

"I don't know. Baze is going find her. What am I going to do with her?"

"You're going to talk to her. You want to go help him find her?" He asks.

Cate shakes her head. "No. I know where she's at, and if I see her right now, then I may kill her. I'll just wait until Baze drops her off." Cate says walking away, frustrated.

Lauren walks into the kitchen, still looking sick. "What's going on in here?"

"Lux didn't go to Baze's." He tells her.

Lauren nods her head slowly. "Oh." She says turning away and gets a water out of the refridgerator.

Ryan looks at her, suspiciously. "What's going on? Did you know she didn't go to your dad's?"

Lauren turns around. "What are you talking about?"

"Lauren, did you know she wasn't going to Baze's?" He asks her again.

She sighs. "Kinda. I know she wasn't going there right when she left here, but she said she was going to go over there to apologize."

"Then why didn't you tell your mom that?"

"Ryan, she's my sister. As much as I don't want her here, I also don't want her to go away. Mom, needs to realize she can't keep Lux's friends away from her." Lauren tells him.

Ryan nods his head understanding where Lauren was coming from. "I get it. But you still shouldn't have lied to Cate."

"I didn't lie to her. I said 'I think Lux went to Dad's.' I didn't say she went there right when she left the house." Lauren says in a duh tone.

At Bug's, Baze walks up to the door and knocks on it, furiously. Bug opens it and sighs.

"Where's Lux?" Baze asks him. Bug turns his head and looks at Lux. Lux walks up slowly to the door. "Lux, why are you here? You're grounded."

"Bug is my boyfriend. Cate cannot keep me away from him!" Lux yells.

"Come on. Let's go." When Lux doesn't move Baze tries it again, but a little more sternly. "Let's go, Lux!"

Lux grabs her things and storms out of the apartment.

In the car, the ride was pretty silent. Lux is looking out the window, while Baze glances at her as he drives.

"Lux, I know you hate me." He starts. Lux turns her head towards him, confused.

"Hate you? I don't hate you." She tells him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you last night. I was just so mad. I mean seeing Lauren drunk, and all those kids in my loft drinking. I could have got into so much trouble if the cops came."

"I know, Baze. I'm really sorry. I wasn't expecting all those people to show up. I swear. And as for the alcohol, well, I looked pretty stupid having a party above a bar, and not having alcohol. But I should have known better." Lux tells him.

"Then why did you do it?" He asks.

"You and Cate won't shut up about that stupid school, so I tried making friends like Cate wanted me to."

"Lux, you don't always have to do what we want you to do." Lux gives him a look and Baze thinks about what he just said. "Okay, wait, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean! Yeah, we want you to make friends, but on your own time."

"I never see Tasha and Bug anymore. You guys don't understand how much they mean to me. When no one was there, they were."

"Yeah, I get that. But we're here now. So, when Cate grounds you, you need to stick to the rules. If Tasha and Bug were there before, then they'll still be there when your not grounded anymore. You guys are kids, not adults. Act like kids."

Lux smiles at him. "You're doing a good job with this dad thing."

Baze laughs. "Really? I don't know about that. My twelve year old got drunk last night. I don't think that was me doing a good job."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I should have stop it. Lauren has been feeling pretty bad all day, so I don't think you'll have to worry about her drinking for a long time."

"Yeah, we all have a lot to learn." Baze says.

At Cate's, Lux walks in quietly, but Lauren was in the living room watching her.

"Welcome back." She says scaring Lux.

Lux jumps. "Oh, hey. Where's Cate?"

Cate comes downstairs. "I'm right here. Where the hell were you!"

"I went see Bug." Lux tells her.

"I grounded you from him, Lux. Does that mean anything to you whats so ever!" Cate yells.

"He's my boyfriend, Cate! You can't keep him from me for the rest of my life!"

"Lux, lying, sneaking around! When will it stop? I'm trying here, but I need you to try back!"

"Like you have room to talk!" Lux says trying to walk away from Cate, but Cate grabs her arm turning her back around.

"What is that suppose to mean!"

"You know what it means! Lying, sneaking around! I wonder who I get it from!"

"Lux..!"

"You can't hide that you slept with Baze forever, Cate!"

"What?" Ryan says coming downstairs.

"Ryan." Cate couldn't believe Lux just said that. Lux sighs and runs to her room.

Lauren wasn't sure if they noticed that she was still on the couch or not, but she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"What is she talking about, Cate? Did you sleep with Baze?" Ryan asks her.

Cate's heart drops when she looks up and sees Ryan's face. He looked so hurt, but disgusted at the same time.

"Ryan, I can explain."

"When did you sleep with Baze again?"

"Ryan.."

"Answer me, Cate!"

"The night Lux ran. We ended up back at his bar and we had a few drinks.."

"A few drinks! Cate.." Ryan was completely unsure what else to say. He was so hurt and in shock, he couldn't find the words.

"Ryan, it meant nothing! It was a stupid mistake!" Cate cries.

"I have to get out of here." Ryan says grabbing his jacket.

"Ryan, don't go! Please!"

"Ya know, I didn't know Baze when I met you, but I accepted the fact that you had a kid with him. I got to know him though, but I always felt like there was something still there between you two. That I was just there."

"Ryan, no. It's not like that!"

"But then Lux comes around, and I find out you slept with him even before you had Lauren. What other lies do you have?" Ryan says opening the door and slamming it behind him as he leaves.

Cate couldn't believe Ryan just left. She stood there staring at the door, crying. Lauren walks out of the living room, looking at her mom. Cate turns, and her heart broke. Lauren looked confused, hurt, and angry.

"Lauren.."

Lauren shakes her head and runs upstairs to her room. Cate hears her door slam, then she falls to the ground, crying hysterically.

The next day, Baze is in the bar cleaning, when his dad walks in.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Baze asks him.

His dad walks up to him. "You must trust that daughter of yours a lot to have her bring over the rent money."

Baze looks at him confused, but decided not to question him. "Yeah, I do." He answers.

"Well, I'm not taking your bar away from you, Nate. I know how it feels to have something taken away, and I don't want to do that to you. Lux is a good kid. I like her. You should bring Lauren and Lux around more often. Your mother would really love that." He tells him.

Baze just stares at his dad before answering. "Yeah, okay. I will. Thanks, Dad."

Baze's dad nods his head, and turns to leave. "I am proud of you." He says before leaving.

Baze watches the door close and he smiles. That was the first time he's ever heard his dad say he was pround. It felt good. 


	6. All Downhill From Here

It was a quiet morning. Cate layed in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ryan left her. She wasn't sure how to handle it, or if she could even cry any more than she already had. Cate could hear Lauren and Lux going downstairs, and making themselves breakfast. She didn't even want to show her face to her daughters. The look in Lauren's eyes broke her heart, and then Lux was just so angry. She knew Lux didn't mean for this to happen, but Cate was almost glad that Lux said something, because she knew she may have never said anything at all. When she hears the front door, she knew Lauren and Lux were leaving for school. Cate throws her pillow over her face. She was not ready to start her day.

In Baze's trucks, neither Lauren or Lux were saying anything. They just kept their eyes out the window. Baze kept looking at them, confused. He couldn't take this silence much longer.

"Alright, what's going on?" He finally breaks. Lauren and Lux still don't say anything. "Lauren?" He says looking into the backseat. "Lux?" Baze looks back and forth between them, waiting for someone to say something.

Lux rolls her eyes and looks out in front of her. Baze was about to hit the back of a truck. Lux jumps up and grabs Baze's arm.

"Baze, stop! Truck!" She yells.

Baze hurries and looks in front of him as he slams on the brakes.

Lauren clutches her chest when they finally stop. Now she knew where Lux got her driving skills from.

"Oh my gosh." She says to herself.

"Are you both okay?" He asks them as he turns and checks Lux and Lauren out.

"I'm good." Lux tells him.

"I think I'm going to walk the rest of the way." Lauren says grabbing her bag.

"Lauren, we're almost there." Baze says finding it ridiculous for Lauren to walk the rest of the way.

"Yeah, I'd like to live." She says getting out and starts walking towards her school.

Baze breathes in deep, then out. "Is she okay?" He asks Lux. "I mean you both seem kinda weird today." He starts driving again.

"Cate and I had a fight last night when you dropped me off."

"Okay, then why is Lauren in a bad mood?"

Lux sighs. "I accidently let it slip that you and Cate slept together and Ryan overheard." Lux tells him. She did feel really bad about it, but she didn't feel bad enough to apologize. If she needed to apologize to anyone, it was Ryan. She really liked him.

Baze pulls up at the high school, in complete shock. He wasn't sure what to say. Lux told Baze bye as she got out of the truck. Baze didn't have any words at the moment, but he knew he had to talk to Cate.

Cate walks downstairs, still in her pajamas, and goes into the kitchen. It was way too quiet. She knew she should have went to work, but she wasn't ready to see Ryan, and she was pretty sure Ryan didn't want to see her right now. Cate grabs the bottle of wine underneath the counter and opens it up. She looks at the time, and it's ten in the morning. She walks to the cabinet and grabs a glass anyway and pours the wine. When she takes a sip, she hears the front door open. Cate quickly walks into the living room.

"Ryan?" She says hopefully. But it was Baze.

"No, it's me." He says nervously. Baze sees that she has a glass of wine in her hands. "Cate, it's ten in the morning."

"Yeah, I know what time it is." She says walking away, and back into the kitchen. "Why are you here?" She goes into the fridge and grabs a pint of ice cream.

"Cate, Lux told me what happened. I am so sorry." Baze says sencierely.

She takes a bite of her ice cream. "Yeah, I'm sure you are."

"Look, Cate, what do you want me to say?"

"There's nothing you can say, Baze! We made a mistake! And that mistake ended my relationship with Ryan! The one person who actually loved me, for me!"

"Just like the other two times!" Baze asks her.

Cate glares at him. "The girls weren't mistakes."

"Well, that's what you're saying."

"No, I'm saying,..I don't need to explain anything to you! You are Lux and Lauren's father, but as for me, we are nothing." Cate says taking another sip of her wine. The front door opens and Ryan walks in. Cate and Baze look at him, then back at eachother. "Ryan.."

"I just came to get my stuff, but you're busy. I'll just come back later." Ryan says.

"Ryan, don't go!" Cate yells after him, but Ryan leaves and slams the door before she could reach him. Cate felt like she could cry again, but she realizes that Baze is still there, staring at her. "Get out." She says in a monotone voice.

"Cate.."

She turns around. "Get out, Baze!" She yells.

Baze nods his head and walks pass her and leaves. Cate stands there staring at the door, she knew Ryan would never forgive her.

At school, Lux closes her locker and starts walking to class when Jones runs up to her.

"Hey, Lux."

Lux was surprised. She hadn't talked to Jones since the party. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Well, I haven't seen you since the party. Where you been?"

"I've been here."

Jones laughs. "Oh. Well, I had fun."

Lux looks up at him and smiles. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean before your dad and mom came, but other than that I liked hanging with you."

"Yeah, I had fun, too."

"So, was that your boyfriend?"

"Bug? Yeah."

Lux could see a little disappointment surface onto Jones' face. "How's your sister doing? She had a lot to drink that night."

Lux laughs. "She's okay now. I think she learned her lesson from the bad hangover the next day."

"Good." He laughs. "Well, I better get to class. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Lux says as she watches Jones walk away.

In Lauren's class, she is the only one sitting there. She was confused on why her teacher asked her to stay behind, plus she was really annoyed because she had better things to do. The door opens and she sees Math walk in.

"What's going on? Where's Mrs. Torres?" She asks him.

"Hey, Lauren. Mrs. Torres thought I should tell you, since I know you better, because I'm friends with your dad, and.."

"Math, you're rambling." She says interrupting him. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing bad happened. Well, you might think it is. Your mom wanted me to find you a tutor for math."

"What? Are you freakin kidding me!" Lauren says raising her voice.

"Look, Lauren, this might be the best thing for you right now."

"But I'm not failing!"

"Well, we think you can do much better. Don't be mad at Cate. She just wants better for you."

"Why, because she can't do better for herself?" Lauren spats out.

"What are you talking about?" He asks her confused.

Lauren knew she shouldn't have started something she couldn't finish. "Nothing. So, who's my tutor?" She asks changing the subject back.

"His name is Justin Phillips, and you guys can start tomorrow during study period."

Lauren gets up and gathers her things together. She really could not believe her mom was doing this to her. "This is just great." She says walking out of the classroom.

Lux is walking down the hall after class when she sees Tasha waiting by the exit. Lux runs over to her. "Tasha? What are you doing here?"

"Fern found me a place." Tasha tells her. Lux looks at her confused, but worried.

"Oh, no. Is it bad!"

"It's three hours away."

"What? Are you serious?" Lux yells.

"I tried talking Fern out of it, but I have to go. They probably want a babysitter, as usual. What am I going to do?"

Lux stared at her thinking. She couldn't let her best friend leave, specially not three hours away. "I'll talk to Cate."

"What?"

"I'll ask her to take you in. This could be the answer you need. What if instead of going three hours away to another crappy foster home, you stay right here? I'm not letting you go." Lux tells her. Tasha nods her head agreeing. They couldn't lose eachother.

After school, Baze pulls up and Lux jumps into the front seat.

"Where's Lauren?" Baze asks her.

Lux shrugs. "I don't know. I haven't seen her."

"What the hell?" Baze says looking through all the kids that are coming out of the school.

"Baze, maybe she walked home. You did kinda freak her out with your driving this morning." Lux reminds him.

"Yeah, maybe she did. I'll call Cate." He says reaching for his phone as he drives away.

Cate answers the phone, clearly annoyed that it was Baze calling her.

"This better be about the girls. Other than that I don't want to speak to you." She tells him.

"It is." He hurries. "Look is Lauren there? I have Lux, but Lauren is no where to be found."

Cate instantly became worried. "Are you sure! Did you check inside the school?"

"Lux said she hasn't seen her. Wait, I didn't try her cell phone." Baze says nervously.

The door opens and Lauren walks in. Cate looks up and breathes out a breath of relief. "She just walked in." She tells him then hangs up. Lauren takes off her jacket as Cate walks over to her. "Where the hell were you?" Cate says displeased.

Lauren glares at her. "School."

"Why didn't you wait for your dad to bring you home? He was worried when he couldn't find you!"

"I didn't really want to talk to anyone, and I especially don't want to speak to you right now." Lauren says trying to go upstairs but Cate stops her.

"Lauren, I know you're mad at me right now, but what happened with me and your dad was a mistake."

"Yeah, that seems to be like all you two do." Lauren says bitterly.

"Lauren.."

"Oh, and thanks for talking to me first before you got me a tutor!" Lauren says going upstairs.

Cate sighs. She felt like she couldn't do anything right these days, even if she was trying to help the ones she loves.

Baze looks at Lux. She looked like she had something going on.

"Hey, kiddo. What's going on? You look like your thinking pretty hard there."

Lux sighs. "Tasha is moving away."

"Aw, what? Man, I'm sorry, Lux. That sucks."

"Yeah, it does. She's my sister, ya know? She's always been there for me." Lux tells him.

"We'll figure out something, okay?" Lux nods her head, smiling. She was hoping Cate would do that something, and take Tasha in. "Um, Lux, I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Well, I know you paid my rent. I just want to thank you, and you really didn't have to."

Lux smirks. "It was nothing, Baze."

"No, it was something." He says sternly. "And I am going to pay you back. I promise." He tells her.

Lux just laughed. She was happy she could do at least one good thing for someone, and they were happy about it.

Lux walks into the house expected to hear fighting going on between Lauren and Cate, but she was surprised when she didn't. Instead she looked in the living room and seen Cate sitting on the couch looking out the window.

"Cate.." Lux says as she walks over to her.

Cate looks up at her. "Hey, Lux. Sit down." Lux does as she is told.

"Look, Cate, I am so sorry for last night. I didn't know Ryan was here. It's okay if you want to send me back."

Cate looks at Lux surprised, and concerned. She couldn't believe Lux just said that. "Lux, what are you talking about? You are not going anywhere. Do you hear me? This is your home now and it always will be." Lux smiles a little. "And last night was not your fault."

"Yes, it was. Ryan left because of what I said. I was mad, but I should have never said that."

"If you wouldn't have, then who would of? I surely wasn't going to say anything, so I'm glad you did. We couldn't live with this secret forever. It's wasn't fair to him. I made a stupid drunken mistake with Baze, and I lied to my fiance. I deserve this."

"No, you don't. Ryan loves you. I know he does. He'll forgive you."

Cate smirks. "I don't know about that, Lux."

"I do."

Cate couldn't help but smile. This might have been one of the first real conversations she and Lux ever had together since she found her. "So, what's going on with you? You look like you have something to tell me."

Lux hesitates for second, thinking about how she should start it. "Tasha is moving."

"What? Lux, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah. She's moving three hours away. I don't know how I'm going to do it." Lux says sadly.

Cate looks at her heartbroken. "I wish there was something I could do."

Lux looks at her and smiles. "Actually, there is something you could do. You can take her in, Cate. You said you were always here for me, right? That you could help me with anything?"

"Lux.."

"I was seven. At Sunnyvale. I had already been there for six months when she showed up. All she kept asking was when her mom was coming back. I told her she probably wasn't. She asked me where mine was, and I told her I didn't know. We never left eachother's side since then. She's my sister, Cate. I can't lose her." Lux says as tears come down her cheeks.

Cate felt really bad about what she was about to do. She knew there was no way she would be able to take Tasha in, take care of her, take care of Lux, and then take care Lauren, who had already been unhappy when Lux moved in. She couldn't add on more stress, especially since Ryan wasn't around to help her.

"Lux, I don't know. She's not my daughter. You and Lauren are my daughters. I have a responsibilty for you two."

"You have a responsibilty for me now, Cate. But for fifteen years I had a responsibility for myself, and for Tasha. We had to take care of eachother because our mom's left us. I've never asked you for anything, Cate. And I promise this will be the only thing I will ever ask from you."

"Lux, I'm sorry. I just can't. Not right now. I'm sorry."

Lux was morbid. She couldn't believe Cate wasn't helping her, helping Tasha. She was just letting Tasha go to another foster home, where who knows will happen.

"Yeah, me too." Lux says bitterly. She storms out of the living room and up to her room.

It was finally morning, after everyone had went to sleep angry with eachother, they woke up to a new day, but with different plans.

Cate wakes up and heads towards Lauren's room. She figured she needed to talk to her, so she knocks on the door and is surprised when Lauren answers. She wasn't really expecting Lauren to be up. Cate walks in and sees that Lauren is packing some of her things.

"What are you doing?" Cate asks her.

Lauren stuffs more clothes in her bag. "I'm going stay with dad for the weekend, or maybe for a little bit longer. I don't know. I just need to get away for a little awhile."

"Lauren, you can't just leave! This is your home!" Cate yells.

"Yes, I can. And Dad's place is my home, too."

"What happened to us?"

"You decided to do things without talking to me first, and you lied to me." Lauren tells her.

Cate grabs her head, feeling a headache coming on. "I can't deal with this right now." She says walking out and heading up to Lux's room. When she walks in she sees that Lux is doing the same thing. "What? Did you and Lauren plan this?"

"I'm going stay at Baze's." Lux tells her.

"Is this about Tasha, Lux? You need to understand why I can't just take her in!"

"I will never understand, but this is about you. I'm leaving because of you, Cate!" Lux says zipping up her bag.

Outside Baze is waiting for the girls, on the porch. Cate walks outside, clearly annoyed.

"So, is this your way to get back at me for lying about you to Ryan?" She asks him.

"This is for Tasha."

"No, this is for you! Don't act like this isn't what you wanted this whole time!"

"To be with my kids? Yeah, Cate, yeah I did."

Baze turns away from her. Cate looks up at him, sadly. "I'm sorry. Of course you want to be with the girls, especially Lux. You want to know her, just as much as I do. I'm getting what I deserve." She says as she sits down on the porch steps. Baze sighs and does the same.

"You don't deserve this, Cate. But yeah, you screwed up with Ryan, but so did I. Well, not with Ryan, with you. Things will be okay..Nothing's permanent. Maybe we could all use a little change."

Cate looks down at her hands. "I didn't want to change. I didn't want to lose him. And I don't want to lose them. Not now."

"I know. And you won't." He says as he puts his arm around Cate's shoulders and pulls her in gently towards him. Cate just looks up at him hoping that he's right.

At Baze's, Lauren, Lux, and Baze walk into Lauren's room.

"I'll have a room for you soon, Lux, I promise."

"It's okay." Lux says as she drops her bag on the floor.

Lauren looks around her room, then over at Baze. "She can stay with me, Daddy. Just put another bed."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's big enough. And we could always put up a curtain or something if we want privacy. I mean, if it's what you want." She says looking at Lux.

Lux smiles at her, grateful for the gesture. "Yeah, it's cool with me." She tells her.

Baze smiles and turns away leaving the girls alone. It was going to be a long weekend he thought.


	7. Winter Formal 1

Cate reaches over and slaps her alarm clock off. It's 5 a.m. and she figured she'd go to work this morning, even though it meant seeing Ryan.

Baze opens Lauren's bedroom door, and sees that Lauren and Lux were still sleeping. It had been a long weekend for all of them. They all went shopping for new things for Lux, like a bed, dresser, etc. Cate kept calling them, but they would never answer, and eventually Baze called Cate and told her to chill out. They'll talk to her when she is ready.

"Schooooool tiiiiiime!" Baze yells. Both girls groan, annoyed at their new alarm clock. "Come one. You're going to be late!" He says walking out.

"Does he do this all the time?" Lux asks Lauren tiredly.

"Only on school days." Lauren mumbles as she gets up and walks to the bathroom.

Lux groans once more and throws her covers over her head.

At the studio, it was work as usual for Cate and Ryan. They didn't speak much, unless they were on air.

"Ya know, sometimes, when you're having sex, in bed, doing other stuff..." Cate says.

"What? You suddenly shy now?" He asks her, rudely.

"Not shy. It's just awkward, when a guy is down there. I mean do you really want a guy looking up at you, begging for approval?" Ryan was becoming very uncomfortable with their conversation on air. "I'm just saying."

"Hey, if we don't work out, you should hand out a manual on the do's and don'ts on dating Cate Cassidy."

Cate smirks. "Yeah, I will. Ya know, if we don't work out." She says looking away awkwardly.

At school, Baze drops Lauren and Lux off. They both stop when they see the banner that some kids are putting up about Winter Formal for the high school.

Lauren chuckles. "Winter Formal. Are you going to going to go?" She asks Lux.

Lux stares at the banner and shrugs. "Dances really aren't my thing."

Jones walks up from behind her. "And what is?" He asks her in her ear. Lux turns around and smiles.

"I don't know." She says looking over at Lauren.

"I'm going to go." Lauren laughs. "See you later. Bye, Jones."

"See ya, Lauren." He says nicely.

Lauren shakes her head, laughing, as she walks away.

"So, what's up?" Lux asks him.

Jones looks around, nervously. "You want to go to Winter Formal tonight?"

"Wait. Are you like asking me?"

"Uh, well, I don't know. Um, yeah. I mean as friends." He says weirdly. Lux made him so nervous, he wasn't completely sure why. "I mean unless you're taking your boyfriend?"

"You're dateless? The day of?" Lux asks him. She couldn't believe the quarterback of the football team, the most popular guy in the school, didn't have a date to Winter Formal, but was asking her to go with him. Something was definitely off.

"Well, you do owe me one?" Lux gives him a questioning look. "Oh, the party. It was ruined." He laughs. Lux smiles, nodding. Yeah, she did kinda owe him, she thought.

Lauren walks down the hallway to the library, where she is suppose to be meeting her tutor. She was far from happy about this. Lauren takes a deep breath and walks into the library. She sees a guy sitting alone at a table with a math book. She figured he was Jake, so she walks over to him.

"Jake?" She asks.

Jake looks up and smiles. "Lauren Bazile." He says standing up, and extending his hand out.

Lauren takes it and smiles. "So, I guess your my tutor."

"Yeah, I guess so." He says sitting back down. "So, lets get started."

Lauren takes the seat next to him and sits down. "You know I'm not failing, right?"

"Well, by the looks of your test, your pretty damn close to it." He says opening his math book and pushing it towards her. "I hear you suck at Geometry."

All Lauren could think about was how cute he was, but how annoying he was forcing this math on her. Shouldn't they be getting to know eachother?

Back at the studio, Cate and Ryan are just getting off the air, and now the awkwardness was finally settling in between them.

"You okay?" Ryan asks her.

"I'm a little tired. When you're driving everyone you love out of your life it's pretty exhausting." She tells him, sadly.

Ryan looks away, unsure on what to say. "Um, have you talked to Lux and Lauren?"

"I tried calling them all weekend, but they wouldn't take it. You know, I wanna make things right with them, but the only way to do that is to talk to them."

Ryan leans in onto the desk. "You don't have to take no from them."

Cate rolls her eyes. "Only with you."

Ryan showed no emotion. He didn't think Cate deserved anything he felt at the moment. "Yeah. We're back." He says putting the headphones back on. Cate sighs and does the same.

At Baze's bar, Baze is fixing things up behind the counter as Lauren sits at one of the tables, doing her homework, and Lux is on her phone texting.

"Geometry is so stupid. I mean, really, when will we ever use this stuff?" Lauren says throwing her pencil down in frustration.

"You'll get it, kid. How was the first tutoring session?" Baze asks her.

Lauren rolls her eyes, thinking back to how boring it was. Jake was so cute, but his cuteness was wearing off since all he talked about was math. "Lame. Like right when I got in there he wanted to start working right away."

Lux laughs. "That's usually what you do when you're tutoring someone."

"Ha. Ha." Lauren says mocking her.

"So, I was thinking we all do something tonight. Movies? Putt-putt? Anything." He tells them.

Lux puts her phone down and starts sqirming in her chair, nervously. "Uh, I can't. I'm sorta going to the Winter Formal." She tells him, stumbling on her words a little.

Lauren and Baze both drop what they are doing. Baze starts laughing. "No way! With who?"

"With Jones." She says sheepishly as she stares up at Baze.

Baze smiles. "Like quarterback Jones?"

"So, what are you going to wear?" Lauren asks her, happily. She wasn't sure why she was so happy for Lux, but she was.

"I don't know. Maybe one of those dresses Cate got for me?" She asks confused. "Are these things dressy?"

"Well, it is called a formal." Lauren tells her in an obvious tone.

"Very funny."

"And you're going with the quarterback!" Baze says happily, as he hugs Lux tight.

Lux laughs. "Alright, I'm going to go upstairs, and look through my closet and stress." She says walking away up to the loft.

Lauren and Baze look at eachother. Lauren couldn't help but laugh at how excited Baze looked. "Looks like it's just you and me, Dad."

Baze was about to say something, when the doors opens and Cate walks up to them.

"Hey. Hey, Lauren." Cate says nervously. Lauren just looks at her and gives her a little smile. "How are you doing?" Lauren just looks away. She really wanted to talk to Cate, but she was still so angry with her. "I miss you." Cate says trying again.

"I'm going to go upstairs and help Lux find a dress." Lauren tells Baze. She walks up to the loft leaving Cate and Baze alone.

"Where is Lux going?" Cate asks him, curiously.

"Well, Lux is going to Winter Formal." He says not able to hide his excitement.

"No way!" She says, surprised.

Baze smiles. "Yeah, with that kid, Jones. The quartback."

"Wait. Does she need a dress?"

"Yeah, actually. And you should really get on that before she stresses out and kills our other daughter, who may not ever see her Winter Formal." Baze tells her, jokingly.

Cate rolls her eyes and walks away, up to the loft to find Lux.

Math comes downstairs. "Hey, what's Lux stressing out for up there? And why is Cate here?"

"Lux is going to the Winter Formal, and since she refuses to talk to Cate, I insisted she bring Lux to get a dress."

"Wow. That was really nice for you to do."

"I didn't do it for Cate. Do you know how expenses dresses are?"

Math rolls his eyes. "Jackass."

Upstairs, Lux is throwing dresses around the room, as Lauren tries to shield herself from them. Cate knocks on the bedroom door, and lets herself in.

"Whoa. Did the closet blow up?" She jokes. Lauren and Lux just look at her. "Um, okay, Lux I heard you're going to Winter Formal. I thought we could go find a dress, ya know, together? If that's okay with you?"

Lux sighs. She knew she would have no other choice. "Sure." She says walking out of the room.

"Lauren, do you want to come with us?" Cate asks her daughter, who was looking somewhere else, trying to avoid Cate's gaze on her.

"Um, no thanks." She says quickly, turning away.

Cate sighs, knowing she couldn't force her. That would just pull them away more. So, she walks out of the room, shutting the door quietly. Lauren sighs, and closes her eyes tightly as tears begin to fall slowly.

At the dress store, Lux is looking through some dresses, as Cate is walking around aimlessly trying to figure out a way to start up a conversation with Lux.

"So, it may not be talking, but standing in the same room is a good start." She laughs nervously. Lux just looks at her not amused.

"You promised, we look, you buy, we leave, no talking." Lux says coldly.

"Okay, okay, okay, no talking.." Cate whispers as she follows Lux around. "So, you and Jones?"

"Wow. A whole three seconds." Lux says sarcastically.

"Well, it's just since when there's a you and Jones?"

"Since never. So, can we please leave it alone?"

"Are you and Bug still together?" Cate asks her.

Lux rolls her eyes. She didn't even want to be here, and Cate was clearly proving her reasons why she didn't want to be there. Lux grabs a dress, quickly, that wasn't too appealing. "How about this one?" She says changing the subject.

"Well, you'd want a dress sexy enough to remind people that you are woman, but not so revealing that they forget your a lady." Cate tells her, pretty satisfied with her answer.

"You could have just said no." Lux puts the dress back on the rack.

Cate walks over to another rack where a short, but pretty and less revealing pink dress was hanging. She knew it was Lux. "How great is this one?" She says picking it up and showing Lux.

Lux chuckles. She looks at the price tag and lets go of it. "No, you don't need to spend that much on me." She tells Cate.

"No, no. I want to, Lux. This dance is a big deal. I want your night to be perfect." Lux turns away. "And I just want to be apart of it." Lux snorts. "How long are you going to punish me for not taking in Tasha? Lux, what you were asking me, no responsible parent would have taken her in."

"Baze would have." Lux spats out.

"Yeah, exactly."

Lux laughs. "Wow, Cate. You are a broken record. All roads lead back to slamming Baze. Pick whatever dress you want. I'll be in the car." Lux says walking away.

Cate sighs as she looks down at the pink dress.

Back at the loft, Lauren is laying down in her bed staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't paying attention when her door opens, and Baze crawls through slowly, but quietly. He peeks up at Lauren from her bed.

"Hey."

Lauren smiles and turns her head down towards Baze who is sitting on his knees, uncomfortably. "What are you doing?" She laughs.

"I'm bored. So, I want you to come hang out with me." He tells her. Lauren sits up, and Baze could tell she had been crying. "Are you okay?" He asks, concerned.

Lauren wipes her face with her sleeve. "Yeah, I'm fine. What do you want to do?" She says putting on her happy face.

"I don't know. Anything you want to do. It's our night together. Just you and me."

Lauren instantly puts on a big smile. "Hotdog race?" She says kinking her eyebrows.

Baze laughs. "Lets do it!" He says as Lauren jumps on his back and they run out into the kitchen, laughing.

Soon Baze, Math, and Lauren have a plate of hotdogs in front of them.

"Okay, one minute on the timer." Lauren says fixing the timer. "Ready, set, go!" She yells.

All three of them are stuffing their mouths with as many hotdogs as they can before the timer goes off. Lux walks in and sees them. She starts laughing as she walks over to them.

"What the heck are you guys doing?"

The timer goes off and Lauren and Baze were almost even, but Math could not even finish half of his plate.

"Dude, you just got beat by a girl!" Baze laughs as he and Lauren high-five eachother.

"Oh, I think I have a food baby." Math says grabbing his stomach. "I gotta go." He walks away to the bathroom.

"How was the shopping trip?" Baze asks, as he turns to Lux.

Lux shrugs. "So, what were you doing?" She asks, sitting next to Lauren.

"Hotdog race. It's a classic." Lauren tells her.

Baze points to Lauren. "And this girl here can eat just like her good ole' dad."

Lauren laughs. "Wanna try it?"

Lux laughs. "Sure."

And they were off again, without Math.

An hour or so later, Lauren is in her bedroom helping Lux get ready for the dance, while Math and Baze sit in the living room playing video games.

"You know I didn't mean to sleep with Cate, again." Baze says to Math. He knew it was about time to apologize, since Math has and always had a crush on Cate. Math was pretty mad about his Baze had been treating her. "We were going through a lot that day." Math doesn't say anything. "Look, if you're that upset, she's single now. If you like her so much, do something about it."

"You're not going to try to date her?" Math asks him.

Baze pauses their game. "Hell no. I rather date Satan. He'll go easier on me." He laughs. "Dude, this parent thing is way easier than Cate made it out to be. I mean we had Lauren for twelve years now, and I think I'm doing pretty good with her. I mean this is the first time she's actually stayed here for much longer than a week, and the first time she's ever been mad enough at Cate to leave, but she seems content here. Drama free. And look at Lux, she's going to Winter Formal with the quarterback. She's only been with me for a few months, and she already has a good head on those good shoulders of her's."

Math laughs. "I gotta say I'm surprised you and Cate want her to go to the Winter Formal." Baze looks at him confused. "Ya know, like the flask we snuck in, the twelve pack of beer, the trojans from Mobile, and the sex that most people had."

"Yeah, but I think kids are probably very different now." Baze tells him.

"Uh, no, they're worse. That's why they have a bunch of teachers chaperoning the dance."

"No, Lux is a good kid. She isn't like that."

"Cate was a good kid, and look what happened to her. Twice." Math reminds him.

Baze stops their game again, and puts the controller down. He hesitates for a second before getting up, pacing back and forth. "She got knocked up, by the quarterback. Twice."

"Maybe you need to talk to Lux about sex. Maybe even Lauren."

"No, I can't talk to them about sex. That's weird." Baze says disgusted at the thought.

"Ya know what would be even weirder? Being a grandfather. Twice!"

Baze stops walking and looks at Math, terrified at the thought.

In their bedroom, Lux takes out the dress to show Lauren.

"Whoa. That is gorgeous." Lux smiles. "Let me guess. Mom picked it out?"

Lux laughs. "Yeah. You think Jones will like it?"

Lauren looks at Lux confused. "I thought you didn't like Jones like that."

"What? No, I don't. But he's my date, ya know?"

"Yeah.." Lauren says not buying it. "Have you talked to Bug? Does he know that you are going to the dance?"

"Um, no." Lux says grabbing her shoes out the box, that Cate also insisted on buying. "I haven't really talked to him."

"Why not?"

"He's been really busy with work." Lux lies. Lauren knew she was lying, but she wasn't going to question her anymore.

"Hey." Lux looks at Lauren. "I think Jones will like it." Lauren tells her. Lux smiles at her little sister, then back at the dress. "I know we're not really close, or really know eachother all that well, and usually I'd talked to Mom about this, but, can I ask you something?" Lauren asks her.

Lux knew this had to be serious if Lauren was wanting to talk to her about it. She puts the dress down and walks over to her bed and sits next to Lauren. "Yeah, what's up?"

Lauren sighs, thinking of a good way to put it. "Um, is it wrong to have a crush on your tutor?"

Lux was definitely not expecting that. "Seriously?" She says surprised.

Laure nods. "Yeah, like I don't know. I just have that feeling."

"Wow." Lux says trying to think of the right words to say. "It's not wrong. Unless he's way older than you, then I won't allow it."

Lauren laughs. "No, he's my age."

"Okay, good." Lux says relieved. She did not want to be kicking some older guys ass for hitting on her little sister.

"Lux.."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for finding us." Lauren wasn't expecting to get close to Lux the way she had. They weren't really close enough to really know eachother's secrets just yet, and they never really got into eachother's past, but just being there now, with eachother, felt pretty good. It felt right.

"No problem." Lux says smiling down at her and throwing her arm around Lauren's shoulders.

At Cate's, Cate walks to the door when she hears her doorbell ring. When she opens it Math is standing on the other side.

"Oh, hey, Math."

"Hey." He says nervously.

"Is everything okay with the girls?" She asks suddenly becoming worried.

"Oh, yeah, everything is fine. Um, can I come in?" He asks her.

Cate steps aside. "Uh, yeah, come on in." Math walks in slowly. He sees that the house is a mess and tries to walk over the clothes and other things on the floor.

"Oh, sorry, I haven't had much time to clean." Cate says shamely.

"No, I haven't noticed." He says kindly as they both sit down on the couch. "You got a nice couch."

"Thanks..So what's up?"

"Well, I've been thinking a lot, and I know you've been really down lately, so I've thought of something that may cheer you up."

"Well, if it involves mounts and mounts of tequila, then I'm in." She says half joking and half serious.

"I thought you might want to be a chaperone a the Winter Formal. It'll get you out of the house, give you something to do, with me." Cate looks surprised. "And I know you really miss seeing Lux, so this would be a chance not to miss a big milestone."

"That would be amazing, but I've already crashed one party of Lux's, so I don't think showing up at her formal would help things."

"Well, then that's when you say the school called you, and I begged you to chaperone with me. You are just doing a favor for a friend."

Cate smiles. She was thinking really hard about it. "I really want to see her in that dress." Math smiles. "Okay, yeah." She laughs. "Let's do it." Math couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. 


	8. Winter Formal 2

At the loft, Baze knocks on the bedroom door.

"Hey, girls. Can you come out here for a second? I wanna talk to you."

Lux and Lauren look at eachother confused, but they do what they're told and walk out of the room. The stop in their tracks when they see Baze sitting with Cate's sister, Abby, on the couch.

"Aunt Abby?" Lauren was totally confused. Her dad and her aunt in the same room together, weird.

"Hey, can you two come sit on the couch. We wanna talk to you."

Lux and Lauren sit on the couch. "What are you doing here?" Lux asks her.

"Uh, I called her. I wanted her perspective."

"So, you called Cate's sister? What about Cate?" Lux asks him.

Abby and Baze look at eachother. "Okay, let's just all talk." Abby starts. "So, sex."

"Whoa! What!" Lauren yells. Lux was stunned.

"I know. If you can barely say it, then you shouldn't be having it." Abby tells them.

"We didn't say it. You did." Lux tells her.

"Okay, here's the thing, whether it's the awful fumblings of your first lover, or the body of your traffic school instructor.."

"Why are we talking about this? I am so confused." Lauren says interrupting her. She was not discussing sex with her aunt, and especially not with her dad.

"You don't want to end up in a situation your not prepared for."

"I just say put it off. Till college, or later, like when you're married, years and years from now." Baze says.

"Is this a sex talk?" Lux asks them.

"It's more of a anti-sex talk." Baze tells her.

"There are many other ways to get the same feeling without having sex." Abby says as she starts explaing the many ways. Lauren looks at Lux, disgusted. Lux smirks at her. "The thing to remember is that your only a virgin once."

"Okay, we got it. At least, I got it. Can this be over now?" Lux says standing up trying to end the conversation. She knew Lauren was probably scarred for life with all the things Abby was telling them, and she also knew Cate would not be so happy with it.

"Your first experience could have negative consequences."

"Like diseases." Baze adds. "That make you go blind."

"I think what Baze is trying to say is that the most meaningful sex happens between people who have known eachother for a long time. Like people who have reconnected from years apart." Abby says looking at Baze mesmerized.

Baze looks at her weirdly. "What I'm trying to say is that sex should happen when you're ready and you know that person. You barely know Jones."

"Okay! I got it! And if I swear that I'm not having sex with Jones and that I don't plan on having sex with Jones, can this conversation please be over with?" Lux says quickly.

Baze jumps up happily. "Yes, yes! Okay, awesome talk you guys." He high fives Lux. "Thanks, Abby."

Lauren just sat there looking confused as ever. She was only twelve, thirteen next month, the only thing she was really thinking about is how to make out.

Couple hours later, Jones is standing in the loft waiting for Lux. He is looking around the place, not remembering how clean it was when they had the party. Baze walks in and wraps his arm around Jones' shoulders, securely.

"Have a seat." Baze says pointing to the chair. "Alright, here is the deal, I was your age a few years ago, okay, well, maybe a little more years ago, but I've been there, and I've done that, and I don't want you going there." He says shaking his head. Jones looks at him confused. "And doing that."

"I really like Lux. And I'm going to treat her right. I'm not the type of guy to just hook up with a girl at Winter Formal and ditch her in the parking lot." Jones tells him.

Baze felt like a football just jabbed him right in the neck. He knew Jones didn't know what he was saying really did happen, so he couldn't get mad at him for it, but the words hurt. They hear a door open and both look up watching Lauren walk through.

"Are you guys ready?" She asks them, excitedly. Lux walks out in her stunning pink dress Cate got her, and her blonde locks, curled and pulled to the side.

"Wow." Baze says. "You look amazing."

Lux walks up to them. Jones breath was literally taken away. "Wow."

Lux laughs. She looks down at her feet, where she has tennie shoes on. "The other shoes hurt my feet."

"You look incredible." Jones tells her as he walks up to her, grinning. "We should go. My friends are going to start meeting us there."

Lux smiles over at Baze and Lauren and waves. Baze waves back.

"Oh, wait. I want to take a picture." Baze says as he grabs his phone.

Lux and Jones turn away. "When did you get so embarassing?" Lux asks him. Baze snaps the picture.

"Alright. Have fun."

Jones and Lux leave as Lauren walks over to her dad and smiles up at him.

"She looks great, huh?"

"She's beautiful." Baze tells her.

"Hey, Dad, next year, um, can we just make the sex talk we had this year for next year, when I go to Winter Formal. I don't think my ears could handle it again."

Baze laughs, grabbing her and kissing her on her forehead. "No problem."

At the school, Jones opens the door for Lux.

"So, your first Westmonte dance." He says.

Lux laughs. "Um, try first dance ever. I'm not exactly the typical school girl dance type."

Jones laughs at her. He could definitely tell that Lux was nervous about it. So, he was happy when his friends came with a flask, it would probably loosen things up a little.

"Dude." One of his friend's say as they hand him the flask. Jones takes a sip then hands it to Lux, and she does the same. "Oh, no.." He laughs. "Mrs. Rogers brought a date?"

Lux turns around and sees Math walking into the entrance with Cate.

"Isn't that your mom?" Jones asks her.

Lux couldn't find the words, so she takes another sip out of the flask.

At the loft, Baze is picking up some stuff around the girls' bedroom. When he picks up Lux's jacket, a condom falls out. He picks it up, confused, and pissed. Lauren walks in.

"Alright, so what do you want to do?" She asks him. Baze turns around, condom in hand. Lauren sees it and regrets even walking in. "Oh, no." She whispers.

In the school, Math and Cate are standing near the stairs as everyone starts walking into the gym. She sees all the girls dressed pretty much like sluts.

"Wow. When we were in high school, we all just wanted to dress up like the Heathers." She tells Math.

"Now they want to look like Kim Kardashian's butt." He tells her.

Cate sees Lux and Jones walk in. "Oh, look, there's Lux and Jones." She says slapping Math in excitement. "Do I know how to pick out a dress, or what?" She says happy with herself as she stares at Lux.

Lux runs up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"One of the chaperones fell through, so they called up Cate." Math tells her.

"I promise you won't even notice me."

"We'll stay out of your way." Math says.

Lux smiles, gratefully.

"You look really great by the way!" Cate tells her as Jones walks up. "Hi!"

"Hi." He says awkwardly.

Lux grabs his arm and drags him away.

"That went well." Cate says.

Jones and Lux walk into the gym. "So, what do you think?"

Lux laughs. "Smells like feet." They walk into a crowd of people dancing. "Now what?"

"Well, there's not many options really. I could get you some punch, or we could dance?" He grabs Lux's hand and they walk onto the dance floor. Lux laughs nervously as she dances along with Jones'.

Cate and Math are off to the side watching the kids.

"Not many happy memories here, huh?" He asks her.

"At the Winter Formal?" she says sarcastically. Math quickly regretted mentioning it. "No. This was probably a bad idea."

"It was sixteen years ago, Cate, you're not that girl anymore. And I'm not that guy."

Cate smiles. "It's fine. It'll pass. It's not like Baze is here to impregnate me and reject me all over again, so.." She sees Baze and Lauren run in after him. "You've got to be kidding me!" She yells as she walks over to them. "What? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Baze asks her.

"Chaperoning. And I called it. I was here first."

Baze laughs. Lauren steps in. "This is stupid. Can we please go?"

"Why are you here?" Math asks him.

"Lux." He pulls out her phone. "She forgot this." Cate takes it from him.

"I'll give it to her. You can go. Unless Lauren, you want to stay with me?" she looks at Lauren hoping she'd say yes. Lauren turns away, not wanting to make eye contact with her.

"Oh, no, you just can't take Lauren away from me." Baze tells her.

"Why? You did it to me."

"No, actually, it was my choice." Lauren says not really to either of them.

"Anyways, maybe Lauren and I wanted to take a look around. Relive my glory days." Baze says searching the crowd of kids with his eyes.

"Glory days?" Cate says amused. "Really? Making someone feel like nothing, that's really a moment to relive." Lux overhears strange familiar voices. She looks over and sees Cate and Baze bickering. "Can I just have one night? Please?"

"Alright, fine. I'll go. Lauren, are you hungry? We should grab some cheese cubes." He says walking away. Cate was getting even more annoyed, as she follows him. Lauren stays behind. She really didn't want to be known once more of the kid with the embarassing parents who fight at parties.

"Do you want to go? Outside maybe?" Jones asks Lux.

Lux sighs. "Yeah, let's go." She says following him out.

Baze sees Lux and Jones walk out and immediately follows them. Lauren sighs, she was definitely not ready to see this fight that was coming. She hurries and runs after Baze, as Cate runs close behind.

Lux and Jones are hanging out in Jones' car. "Well, this isn't embarassing." Lux jokes.

Jones laughs. "It's okay. I was thought if my parents were younger, that they'd be less embarassing. I guess I was wrong."

"Anything involving Cate, Baze, and public form, usually means a sign of embarassment."

"So, Lauren is your half sister, or?"

"No." Lux laughs. "She my biological sister. Cate and Baze were twenty when they had her. I guess alcohol and immaturity makes you crazy and have kids. It's funny. No matter how much something seems to be about me, it always seems to be about them. At the night of their Winter Formal, I was concieved. In this parking lot actually."

"So, that's why your dad was so freaked out. He thought I'd do something to you." Jones tells her.

Lux was about to say something, but Baze interrupts them by opening Jones door. "Out of the car, little dude, now." Jones and Lux get out the car. "What do you think you're doing?"

Lauren runs over to them, along with Cate. "I am so sorry, Lux."

Lux is confused, but she doesn't ask questions.

"We were just listening to music." Jones tells him.

"What's going on?" Cate asks them.

"And then you have Spin Doctors playing in the background, and next thing you know you have a crazy chick on the football field holding a stick that she peed on!"

"Baze, stop!" Lux yells. "I am not Cate, and Jones isn't you."

"What are we talking about?" Cate asks, confused.

"This." Baze says pulling out the condom. "I found it when I picked up your jacket. It fell out your pocket."

"Baze, that's not mine." Jones says defending himself.

"Look, can we just drop this?"

"Drop this? I'm glad I found this before this guy tried de-virginizing my kid!"

"No one's de-virginizing! That speech that you and Abby gave me was a little too late." Lux informs him.

"Wait? What speech? Why was my sister giving my daughter a speech about sex?" Cate asks him.

"Not only me, Cate." Lux says looking over at Lauren who was standing there awkwardly.

Cate looks over at Lauren, then back at Baze. "Are you kidding me, Baze! You and my sister gave my daughters a speech about sex!"

Baze was still in shock about what Lux said. "You're not a virgin?"

"Yeah, and it's not his condom!" Lux tells him. "It's Bug's."

Everyone is standing there not completely sure how to go on with the conversation.

"I'm going to go back in." Jones tells her. He walks away and Baze stands in Jones' place.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" Cate asks him.

"Baze asked Abby for help because he didn't want you to think that he was over his head!" Lux yells as she walks away.

Lauren stands there looking between her parents. She wasn't sure if she should follow Lux, or just stay quiet.

"I can't believe you, Baze. I am their mother! I should be talking to them about sex!"

"What did you want me to do, Cate? When I seen the condom, I freaked. I don't want to know that my daughter is having sex!"

"No, you just don't want her to make the same mistakes we did."

"Cate.."

"No, Baze! First you take them away from me, and then you go behind my back, with my sister! Once again, I mean nothing to you! For once in my life I'd like to have someone make me feel worthy!"

"You are worthy, Cate!"

"No, I don't mean by you." Cate says walking away.

Baze looks up, confused. He screwed up big time. He looks over at Lauren who is just standing there. She looked so lost. "Lauren.."

"I'm okay." She says as she turns and walks away in the same direction her mom did.

In the gym, Lux finds Jones'.

"Hey." Jones looks at her then walks away, but Lux follows him. "Jones', wait!" she grabs his arm and stops him. "I know it was really awkward out there. Are you mad?"

"That you're hooking up with your boyfriend, then coming here with me?"

"You said we were friends! That we were coming here as friends." She says reminding him.

"I don't slow dance with friends."

"Jones, I'm sorry. Go if you want, but your my one friend here, right?"

"I don't know what I am." He says, confused, as he walks away from him.

Cate is sitting in the hallway alone, thinking, when Lux walks in.

"Lux!"

Lux turns around and sees Cate sitting on the floor. "I didn't realize this hallway was taken."

Cate looks at her pathetically. "High school dances suck no matter how old you are." Lux goes and sits next to her. "You look more upset than I do. I guess this isn't the night for mother and daughter heart-to-heart." Cate says.

Lux smirks at her. "You'll give me some profound advice that is somehow relevant to both of lives?" Lux knew that answer. No.

"Can I just say one thing, real quick? We all have things we hold on to, that we can't let go of. You were right about Baze. I keep punishing him because I can't let him feel better about the past, because I don't feel better about it. And until I do, I don't want to let him off the hook. Maybe you don't want to let me feel better either." Lux sighs. "I know that I hurt you, Lux, and I know that I hurt Lauren, and I know you don't feel better yet. But I can't fix it for you, just like Baze can't fix it for me. But maybe it's something that we could do for ourselves. But if you can, hurry, so I don't have to show up at a school dance to be apart of your life." Cate jokes, making Lux laugh a little. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too."

Cate and Lux stare at eachother for a few moments before Math walks in.

"Uh, Cate, can we talk?"

Lux gets up and walks out of the hall. Cate stands up. "Math, I'm sorry. About all of this."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not."

"I just wish you'd realize that you're an amazing woman, Cate Cassidy, and you're a great mother. And I am so happy that you came with me."

"Thanks, Math. Me too."

Outside Cate walks out and sees Lauren sitting by herself on a bench. She walks up to her and sits next to her.

"So, how completely scarred are you from that sex talk?" Cate asks her.

Lauren laughs. "Completely."

"I'm sorry for not talking to you about the tutor. You were right. I should have asked you what you thought about it."

"It's okay. I understand why you did it. You want the best for me, right?"

Cate smiles at her. "Right." She pulls some stray hair out of Lauren's face. "I miss you."

Lauren looks at her with tears forming in her eyes. "I miss you, too. Can I come home?"

Cate fell hard for those sad eyes. She pulls Lauren into a hug. "Of course you can, baby. Thank you." She says whispering into her ear. Lauren just nods her head, crying happily in her mom's shoulder.

Cate and Lauren begin to walk back towards the school holding hands. "So, I like this boy.."

Cate pulls Lauren into a side hug. "Oh, no." She laughs. 


	9. Times Like These

Cate opens Lauren's door very slowly, but quietly, as she sneaks in, hiding something behind her back. Lauren is sleeping deep under her covers. Cate smiles as she sits on the bed. Lauren was sleeping peacefully, and wildly, like she always did when she was a little girl. Cate chuckles at the thought, as she pushes a strand of hair out of Lauren's eyes. Lauren starts waking up from her mom's touch. She opens her eyes slowly and sees Cate watching her.

"Happy Birthday, sweet girl." Cate says grinning, happily.

Lauren smiles and sits up. "Thanks, Mom."

"I have something for you." Cate pulls out a small box from behind her back and hands it to Lauren.

"What is it?"

"Well, open it and see." Lauren tears the paper off as fast as she can, as Cate smiles at her excitement.

Lauren opens the box, and it reveals a small bracelet with a few charms on it. "Mom, it's so pretty." She says mesmerized.

Cate scoots over so that she is sitting next to Lauren. She takes it out the box for Lauren and puts it on her wrist. "These three charms represent your family: Me, your dad, and Lux." Lauren smiles when she says that. "This one represent soccer, your favorite sport in the world!" She says being dramatic making Lauren laugh. "And this one represents the last thirteen years of your life. I'll add more on every birthday."

Lauren throws her arms around Cate, giving her a tight hug. "I love it. Thank you."

Cate holds Lauren close. "You're welcome."

Lauren lets go of Cate and gets out of bed. "Well, I guess I better start getting ready for school."

"Do you need me to take you?" Cate asks her.

"Oh, no. I'm just going to head into tutoring a little bit early today, and I already told Dad."

"Yeah, how is that going anyway? The tutoring?"

Lauren takes a long breath out. "It's okay, I guess. We'll see when I get my test back."

Cate stands up and walks over to Lauren. "I am so proud of you, and I don't think I tell you that enough." Cate leans over and kisses Lauren on her cheek.

"Thanks." Cate smiles at her and walks towards the door. "Hey, Mom." Cate stops walking and turns back to Lauren. "I really love my bracelet."

Cate nods her head and smiles before she walks out the door.

At school, Lux is walking towards the entrance when she sees Jones hanging out by his friends. She really didn't like how they ended Winter Formal, and since then he had been avoiding her. So, since he didn't see her she figured now was the best time to talk to him without him running away.

Lux touches Jones arm to get his attention. "Jones."

Jones sighs and looks at her. "What do you want, Lux?"

"I want to talk to you. I think we should talk about what happened."

"There's nothing to talk about." He says trying to walk away but Lux runs in front of him.

"Jones, I do like you, okay!" Lux tells him surprising them both. "But Bug is my boyfriend. He's been there for me the last few years."

Jones looks around. "Then where is he now?" He asks her, but when Lux had nothing to say Jones walks away from her.

Lux knew Jones was right. She hadn't seen Bug in a little over a month. She had tried calling him, but he wouldn't answer. Lux wasn't sure how to react.

At the studio, Cate and Ryan are on air. Things between them have been strictly on air. Ryan was being distant as usual, and Cate was just hoping things would get better. She had Lauren back, but now she needed Lux and Ryan back.

"For once we aren't talking about sex. We are talking about sleeping together." Cate says into her mic. "Sometimes it can mean incredibly romantic to share with someone you love."

"Yeah, but what about the guilt?" Ryan asks her.

"What guilt!"

"Everytime you move, your partner uses it as a personal assault as on her rimsake." Ryan tells her.

Cate laughs. "It's true. Sometimes you just wish they'd disappear so that you can have your own bed back and rest in piece."

"Yeah, well, if slept in separate beds, Cate, you wouldn't be able to rub your ice cold feet on my legs."

"I started wearing socks!" Cate says defensive. Ryan rolls his eyes. "And maybe I don't have cold feet, maybe you just have hot legs." She regretted saying that after. "Anyway, I stopped putting my feet on you a few weeks ago, incase you've forgotten." She says avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah, I haven't forgotten." Ryan tells her. They look at eachother awkwardly, and yet loving. "Ya know, the truth is, sometimes I'd wake up having dreamt of your feet still on me when they're not."

Cate smiles. "You dream about my feet?"

Ryan snorts. "Like once."

Cate was glad that Ryan still thought about her. It made her not feel so guilty to think about him.

In study hall, Lauren is sitting at the table with Jake, pretending to be looking at her math book.

Jake smiles. "Ya know, you might understand geometry better if you kept your eyes in your book and not on me."

Lauren closes her book. "So, we've been doing this for a few weeks and I still don't know anything about you. I've barely seen you around school. So, what's your deal?"

"What do you mean what's my deal?"

"I mean where do you come from? Where do you live? What's your middle name? What do your parents do? What's your hobbies? Ya know, that kind of stuff."

Jake leans back in his chair and looks at Lauren. "I don't think you want to get into my personal life." He tells her.

Lauren was suddenly interested. "Why? Are you like running from the cops, or I don't know, do you even go here? Are you even in high school?"

"You really think if I'd be running from the cops I would be tutoring your right now?" He asks her amused.

Lauren shrugs. "I don't know. I don't know your life, Jake."

Jake takes a deep breath before speaking. "I live in Portland. My middle name is Alexander. My hobbies are photography and I play guitar."

"Wow. You play guitar? I'd love to hear you play one day."

Jake smiles. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Lauren pretended to be hurt. Jake closes his books and gets up. "Where are you going?"

"Class." He says walking away before turning around. "Oh, Happy Birthday, Lauren." He says turning away and continuing out the door.

Lauren sits back in her chair, smiling, she figured she was probably blushing, but she didn't care. She was starting to like Jake, like really like him. It probably wasn't a good idea considering he is her sister's age, but she didn't care.

At school, it was lunch, but Lux really wasn't feeling it, so she went walk outside. When she stepped out she seen Bug standing near his motorcycle in front of the school. Lux runs over to him and jumps into his arms.

"Where the hell have you been!" She yells. She was happy to see him, but angry at him for just leaving like he did.

"I had to take care of some things. I'm sorry I just bailed." Lux wasn't sure if she believed his apology, but he looked really sincere about it, and Bug never lies about how he feels.

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Okay." He smiles and kisses her on her lips. "How about you ditch this place? Let's go back to the apartment."

Lux looks around the school yard, to see if anyone was around. She turns back to Bug and smiles. "Let's go." She says as they both hop on his motorcycle and take off.

But Lux didn't see anyone outside before she left, but someone was watching her from inside. Lauren stares out the door windows as her sister rides away with her boyfriend. She hadn't seen Lux in a couple weeks. They were in different parts of the school, so it was hard to catch up when they did have time.

At Baze's, Baze is in the living room on his computer when someone knocks on the door.

"Come in." He yells. But he regretted it as soon as he looks up and sees Abby walking through it. "Abby? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I know it's Lauren's birthday today, and I'm sure you need help finding something to give her." She says lamely.

Baze looks at her confused. "Uh, I've been getting my kid birthday presents for twelve years now. I think I can handle it."

"Yeah, but she isn't a kid anymore. She's a teenager and they are really hard to please." Abby says sitting next to him.

"I have it under control." He tells her. "Shouldn't you be working or something? Don't they have people who pay you to talk to them?"

"I can go in whenever I want."

"Aww. They don't like talking to Dr. Abby?" He says coldly.

Abby rolls her eyes. "So, what are you looking at?" She says changing the subject to the computer.

"I'm trying to find something for Lauren."

"Today is her birthday, and you didn't even get her anything yet? Wow. You're a great dad."

"Excuse me. Things have been a little off lately since Lux's arrival."

"Books?" Abby says as she looks at the website Baze is on.

"What? She likes to read!"

"Yeah, but she can get books anytime. I don't think books are a good idea for a birthday present."

"Well, Abby, what do you suggest?" He asks her finally giving up.

Abby takes the computer mouse away from Baze and types something in. Baze looks at her like she's insane.

At Bug's, Bug and Lux are on the bed, but Lux is putting her clothes on.

"Just for five more minutes. Come on!" Bug begs.

"No." Lux laughs. "I ditched school, and if Baze and Cate find out. I'm dead. The next time you leave town, I am going to implant a GPS chip in you." She says as she leans closer to Bug and they start kissing.

Bug pulls away, laughing. "I bet Baze would love to get a tracking system on you."

"Yeah, well, one good thing about living there is that I'm the only girl, so he's too weirded out to barge into my room, plus since the whole condom thing he's been kinda on the edge." Lux tells him.

"I find that hilarious." Lux only told him that Baze found the condom, but not where their fight occured. She knew Bug would definitely blow up if he found out she went to the Winter Formal with Jones.

"So, what are you up to today?" She asks him.

"I don't know. I need to find a job if I want to keep this apartment." He says getting up and walking over to Lux.

"Like a ligit job?" She says, surprised.

"Yeah, and I need to get it soon."

"If your doing this for me the least I could do it be there for you. So don't leave me again, okay?"

Bug smiles down at her. "Okay." He says leaning down and kisses her.

At school, Baze is waiting by the curb for the girls to come out. Lauren walks out and sees Baze waiting. She runs over to him and hugs him tightly.

"Ah, Happy Birthday, kid." Baze tells her as he kisses her on he head.

"Thanks, Daddy." She says happily.

"Uh, where's Lux?" He asks as he looks around the school yard.

"Um, I'm not sure. I haven't seen her." Lauren says getting into the truck.

Baze's phone goes off. He takes it out his pocket and it's a text message from Lux. 'Left early. Classes cancelled. At the loft.' Baze shakes his head, putting his phone back into his pocket. He gets into his truck and smiles at Lauren.

"So, thirteen? You're really growing up on me."

"Dad, are you going to cry?" Lauren laughs.

Baze drives off. "Nah, but you really are growing up too fast. Slow down."

"I'll try." Lauren notices Baze pass up the road they are suppose to take to get to Cate's. "Where are we going?"

Baze looks at her. "It's a surprise." He says grinning.

Lauren jumps in excitement. Her dad's gifts usually consisted of movies, books, music, typical things a dad wasn't sure what to get his daughter. So, she was pretty excited to see what her dad had planned for once.

At the studio, Cate is pouring herself some coffee as Ryan walks up to her.

"So, it's Lauren's birthday today."

Cate sighs. "Yes, it is."

Ryan laughs. "She's growing up so fast."

"Tell me about it. It's scaring the hell out of me." Cate says sitting down at the table.

"I remember when I first met her. She did not want to leave your side. I guess she thought I would hurt you or something." Ryan says sadly.

"Yeah, and now I wish she wouldn't leave my side ever, but she's a scary teenager now."

Ryan pulls out a wrapped box out his pocket. "I want you to give her this." He says handing it to Cate.

Cate looks in awe. "Ryan, you didn't have to get her anything."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but I wanted to. Lauren means a lot to me."

Cate nods her head and takes the box. "You could give it to her yourself."

"That's okay."

"She did get use to you, Ryan. I remember when she wouldn't leave your side once she got use to you. She loves you, Ryan."

Ryan just nods, sadly, and walks away. Cate sighs looking down at the box in her hand.

Baze and Lauren end up at the pet store. Lauren is running all over the place looking around at all the cute and small animals.

"Daddy, don't tease me. Are you serious about this?" Lauren asks him. She looks at the tiny puppy laying in a pin with other puppies.

"Yeah, kid. I'm serious. I want you to choose whatever you want." He tells her.

"Okay. This one." She points to the black half maltese; half poodle staring back up at her.

Baze looks at it. "Now are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, then. Let's get it."

At Cate's, Cate is in the kitchen trying her hardest to bake a cake for Lauren until she hears the front door open.

"Mom!" Lauren yells.

Cate hurries and hides the cake and all the ingredients she is using. She takes off her apron and runs to meet them in the living room.

"Hey, guys. How was school?" She asks Lauren.

"It was good."

"What's that smell?" Baze asks her as he sniffs the air.

"It's nothing. Just experimenting. Where's Lux?"

Baze scratches his head trying to figure out what to say. "Um, at the house. I wanted to spend a little time with Lauren."

Cate nods her head. "Well, what did you go do?" She asks Lauren.

Lauren hesitantly looks at Cate before she speaks. "Um, you can't get mad."

Cate looks at her weirdly. "When you tell me I can't get mad, that usually means I will be mad. What's going on?"

"Cate, just remember it's Lauren's birthday, and it's something that she really really wanted." Baze tells her.

"What did you do?" Lauren opens the front door and takes the puppy off the little leash. She walks back into the house and up to her mom with the puppy in her hand. "No, you didn't." Cate laughs. She did not want to believe she was seeing what she was seeing in Lauren's arms.

"Isn't he cute?" Lauren asks her as she kisses the puppy.

Cate gives Baze an evil look, and all Baze could do was smile. "What? Cate, it's cute."

"Yeah, and Mom, I've never had a pet before."

"Uh, yeah, I know, because I would be the one to have to take care of it." Cate reminds her.

"No, not this time!" Lauren promises her. "I will take care of him! I will take him out, feed him, everything your suppose to do. Please, Mom, let me keep him. He's so cute, and he needs a home." Lauren starts pouting.

Cate smiles and shakes her head, amused. "Okay. But you promised, so you better keep that promise." Cate says sternly, tapping Lauren's chin, as a smile breaks out onto her daughter's face.

"Thanks, Mom. You're the greatest!" She says hugging Cate tightly. Lauren jumps up and down as she runs to her room to play with the puppy.

"Look at how happy she is." Baze says smiling as he watched Lauren run away with the puppy. Cate smacks him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for!" Baze yells grabbing his arm.

"You should have talked to me first before you did that." Cate tells him.

"What? Cate, I really wanted to give her something she'd love. I mean I haven't really been dad of the year when it came to her birthdays. You've always been the best at buying her presents. And she loves it, so I think I did a good thing."

Cate sighs. "I guess your right. But if that thing pees once on my floor it is going to your place."

"Yeah, yeah." Baze grabs his arm again. "Geez. For a little person you sure do hit hard." Cate's phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" She answers. "Yes, this is she. Yeah, she's my daughter." Cate looks over at Baze. "Oh my gosh. Yeah, I'll be right there!"

Cate is yelling at Baze as they walk through the hall with Fern. Lux is not saying anything. She knew she was in a lot of trouble. Lauren looks clearly annoyed at the fact that she just got a puppy and it had to stay home, oh and it's her birthday and she was picking up her sister from the police station.

"I cannot believe you told me she was at your place, when she wasn't!"

"Cate, she texted me and said that she was, okay! I didn't know!"

"The law states that the parents should know where their children are at all times." Fern tells them. "And I'm guessing you didn't know she was out with her boyfriend in a club."

"Of course I didn't. I was told she was home." Baze says particularly to Lux.

"I was just trying to help Bug find a job." Lux tells them.

"I thought Bug left?" Baze asks her.

Lux looks away. "He came back."

"Obviously." Lauren laughs. Cate and Baze give her a look, which usually meant shut up. Lauren shrugs. "Just saying."

"Since Lux is living with you, it's your responsibilty to keep track of her." Cate tells Baze.

Fern looks confused. "No, actually, since you share custody it's just as much as your responsibility to keep track of Lux, too. Unless, you're saying you two are no longer sharing custody of Lux?"

Baze and Cate look at eachother, unsure of what to say.

"I'm just staying over at Baze's for a bit." Lux tells her.

"She's mad at me for a little thing with her friend." Cate tells Fern.

"Tasha isn't just some little thing! If you would have taken her in, she wouldn't be three hours away, living with a family that she hates."

"So, you two had a fight, Lux moved out, and you failed to report the change in custody arrangements?" Fern asks her trying to understand the whole situation. "And you're failing to set boundaries, and keep tabs on Lux's whereabouts." She says looking at Baze. Baze and Cate looked completely frustrated. They couldn't argue because Fern was right. "As you know your family evaluation is scheduled for next month."

"Yes, and this will all be straightened out before then." Cate assures her.

"From where I'm standing, which is in a police station, this situation seems a little passed straightening out." Fern tells her. "I'm moving up your evaluation. Be in my office Monday morning. All of you." She tells them.

"What exactly will you be evaluating?" Cate asks her.

"She needs guardians she respects. Who can keep her under control."

"What do you mean she needs guardians? We're her parents!"

"And it's temporary. So, if you can't control Lux, we'll have to find someone who can." Fern says as she grabs her things and walks away from them.

Cate, Baze, Lux, and Lauren all look at eachother scared and unsure on what was going to happen.

At Cate's, Baze, Cate, Lux, and Lauren walk in, sulking, and go over to the couch to sit down.

"Alright. Look, we can get through this." Cate says trying more to convence herself.

"I've been to these evaluations plenty of times." Lux tells them. "Once it gets to this, the chances of staying together aren't that likely."

"This isn't going to be like other times, Lux. Unless, do you want it to be?" Cate asks.

Lux looks at her confused. "Well, I don't want to go back to foster care if that's what you mean."

"Good. So, then things need to change."

Baze sits up. "Exactly. How do we fix things before Monday?"

"Well, forgiving me for Tasha, that would be a good start." Cate says looking at Lux.

"And maybe living by my rules."

Lux was astounded to what they were saying. "You don't even live by your rules." She tells Baze. "You guys say that I have to change for this evaluation, well, what about the two of you?"

Baze and Cate look away embarassed at what Lux just said. They knew she was right. They weren't great parents, so maybe it was time to start changing themselves.

"Oh crap!" Lauren yells jumping up. "The puppy!" She runs to her room.

"Puppy?" Lux asks, confused.

"Yeah, I got Lauren a puppy for her birthday." Baze tells her.

Lux gasps. "Seriously?"

"You forgot about Lauren's birthday?" Cate asks her.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Lux walks away to Lauren's room.

Cate looks at Baze. "Do you think we can make this right?"

"Yeah, I think we can."

Lux knocks lightly on Lauren's door before she enters. When she walks in she sees Lauren sitting on the floor playing with the puppy.

"Cute puppy." Lux says kneeling down next to them.

"Thanks." Lauren says not really paying her any mind.

"Happy Birthday, Lauren. I should have said it this morning, but my mind was somewhere else. But that's no excuse." Lux tells her, desperate for her to understand.

Lauren continues to play with the puppy. "You've only been here a couple months. I wasn't expecting you to know." Lux could tell Lauren was hurt, and she didn't blame her.

"So, what did you name him?"

"I'm not sure yet." Lauren tells her as she picks up the dog and kisses him right on his nose. "I want the perfect name."

Lux smiles at her, and continues to watch her love the puppy. She knew that puppy was one lucky puppy. He was instantly close to Lauren as soon as they laid eyes on eachother, but as for being sisters, that was the hardest thing to get use to.

Baze and Lux walk into the loft.

"I cannot believe you got Lauren a dog. Did you have to fight with Cate about that?" Lux asks him.

Baze smiles mischievously. "Nope. I bought the dog before we asked."

Lux laughs. "So, what are your rules?"

"Well, first off, no sleeping at Bug's, no sneaking out, so when we meet with Fern, she won't be able to do anything because we'll be cool. Yeah?"

"Yeah." Lux smiles up at him. "We'll be cool."

At Cate's, Cate knocks on Lauren's door, and walks in with a cake. Lauren and the puppy are cuddling in bed. Lauren looks up and sees Cate carrying a cake towards her. She quickly sits up and stares at her mom.

"What is that?"

Cate sits down on the bed, and puts the cake down in the middle of her and Lauren. "It's your cake. I made it."

"No way!"

"Yes way! And I promise it won't kill you." Cate assures her as she lights the candles. "Now make a wish and blow."

Lauren does as she's told and blows out the candles. She stares at the cake amazed. Amazed that her mom even made the cake. "Mom, this is amazing. Thank you so much."

"I know this wasn't the birthday you expected, and I'm sorry."

Lauren shakes her head. "No, no! It was great. I mean you baked me a cake. I think that has to be a first."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Cate pulls out the wrapped box Ryan had given to her earlier. "Ryan wanted me to give you this." She hands Lauren the box and Lauren unwraps it furiously. She opens the box and it reveals a locket.

"Wow, this looks so antique." Lauren says taking it out and showing Cate.

"Yeah, it does. Does it open?"

Lauren opens the locket and sees a picture of her, Cate, and Ryan. It was a couple years ago at the park. Lauren smiles thinking of that day. It was so much fun. It almost felt like they were a family, and it was the first time she had actually seen her mom so happy. Lauren hands Cate the locket to show her.

Cate smiles as she looks at it. "It's perfect." She hands the locket back to Lauren. She moves the cake out of the way as Lauren lays under her covers with the puppy under her arm. Cate decides to lay down next to her. "So, do you have a name for this little guy yet?"

Lauren shakes her head. "I'm trying to find the perfect name for him."

Cate kisses Lauren on her head. "He's lucky you found him."

"No, I'm lucky I found him." Lauren says as she kisses the puppy and rests her head on Cate's chest.

Cate wraps her arms protectively around Lauren. It felt like Lauren was five years old again, and even though Cate knew it would only last tonight, she wish she could hold on to this moment forever. 


	10. Come Home

It is the morning of the evaluation with Fern, and everyone was a little over the edge.

"Lauren Catherine Bazile, if I see this dog in my laundry one more time, I swear, it's moving in with your dad!" Cate yells as she walks into Lauren's room and puts the dog in it's pin.

Lauren is standing in front of her closet, looking at her clothes. "Mom, don't yell. You're scaring him."

"Why aren't you dressed?" Cate was dressed in a black suit like dress, and she was ready to go. Lauren on the other hand wasn't sure what to wear. She didn't even want to go.

"Because I can't find anything!" Lauren whines. "I don't understand why I even have to go to this. I mean don't you want me in school?"

Cate walks over to Lauren and looks in her closet. "Nice try. And we're a family. We are going to do this together." She pulls out a blue dress and a white sweater. "Here. Wear this."

Lauren stares at the clothing Cate just picked out. "A dress? Really?"

"Put it on and be happy." She says handing Lauren the clothes. "Five minutes!" She yells walking out of the bedroom.

Lauren sighs as she throws down the clothes on her bed. This was going to be a long day she thought.

In Fern's office, Cate is sitting on the couch by herself. Fern wanted to talk to them all individually before she talked to them all together.

"Well, okay. Last time I saw you things were a bit out of control." Fern starts. "How have the past few days been?"

"Good! We're just smoothing out the kinks." Cate tells her.

Now Baze is sitting in front of Fern by himself.

"What kind of kinks?" Fern asks him.

Baze smirks. "Have you met Bug?"

Lux is sitting in front of Fern now.

"Well, last night Baze helped me with my homework."

"Last night, I took Lux and Lauren to see a stage play. It had a very uplifting theme. Lots of dancing." Cate says, laughing.

"Um, last night, I played with my new puppy my dad got me for my birthday, and my mom went to work."

"Uh, last night, we partied on Rock Band for hours." Baze says exgerrating. "I mean up until bedtime which is at a strictly hard ten o'clock. No snacking after nine. Do you Rock Band?"

Now all four of them are sitting in front of Fern. Baze at the end, Lauren between Baze and Cate, and Lauren sitting on the other side of Cate. They sat there nervously as they listened to Fern speak.

"In all of my years in social working, I have never seen such a pathetic sherade. You would rather lie about your problems, than face them head on. And if that's the case, I have no other choice but to find Lux another placement."

"It was my fault!" Lux says panicing.

"Lux." Baze stops her. "It was ours. Cate and I, we were afraid to tell you the truth because we didn't think you'd let us keep her."

"And what is the truth?" Fern asks them.

"Well, we suck."

"But not for the lack of trying." Cate adds. Lux rolls her eyes at them, clearly annoyed. "I don't know if this is about Tasha or not anymore." Cate tells Lux.

"Tasha and Bug aren't like other kids. They don't have parents to support them. When they need help, they turn to me. And you made me feel like I could turn to you, and you weren't there for me."

"For you?" Fern asks her. "You mean for your friends?"

Lux hesitates for a second. "Um, yeah. My friends."

"You said for me. You said Cate wasn't there for you."

Cate looks over at Lux concerned. She was so desperate for Lux to reach out to her and talk to her. To open up.

"Yeah. She's wasn't. I asked her a favor and she wasn't there for me."

"And that's what this is really about, right? Cate not being there."

Lux shrugs. "I say, yes, and what? You send me away to live with someone else. I dont want to live with someone else. I want to work it out with Cate and Baze. I want to know my little sister! I just.." Lux wasn't sure if she wanted to go on. It was too much already. It wasn't suppose to be like this.

"I'm the one that determines if you stay together or not, but ultimately it's not up to me. It's up to you." Fern tells Lux. "If you can't be straight with me, then you'll never be straight with Cate and Baze, and then you'll be right back on my couch six months from now. So, you say Cate wasn't there for you. Tell me what you mean."

Lux was already on the verge of tears before she could speak. She looks over at Cate, and all she could see was worry. She never wanted to worry them. She felt bad for putting them in this situation, especially Lauren. She wanted better, so she guessed she needed to finally speak.

"Where were you?"

"What?" Cate asks, unsure on what Lux was asking her.

"I was out there. My whole life, where were you all that time? You never even checked, you never wondered what had happened, or if I was okay."

"I really didn't think that I had to worry. They told me that you were going to be adopted. That you were going to have a better life. I really thought that I was doing what was right for you." Cate explains.

Lux was now getting really frustrated with all of this. "It wasn't for me! If it was for me, then you would have checked. But you did it for you. You did the right thing for you."

"Lux, it's not all on Cate." Baze tells her. He knew this was a lot for both of them. Cate looked like she was going to break at any moment, and well, Lux, she was already broken. "I wasn't there exactly either."

"You didn't know. And no one who knew you would have expected you to be there." Lux tells him in an obvious tone.

"I didn't have anyone to turn to." Cate tells her. "My mother was drinking her way into another divorce, and I barely knew my father. I wrote you letters, Lux, but when I didn't know where to send it, I realized I had no idea how to be a parent, at least not a good, not at sixteen."

"Then what about a few years after that? When you were twenty and had Lauren?" Lauren slid back on the couch looking away. She had her own tears falling. She figured she was going to be brought up somehow. And ever since Lux came back, it felt like she was the reason why Cate didn't look for her. Lauren felt like she screwed everything up. "Or when I was three, and stuck in a hospital where no one visited. Or two years after that when my foster mom shoved me into a wall, and told the social worker that I fell off the swing." Yeap, Cate was about to break. She never wanted Lux to go through those horrible things. No child should ever have to deal with that. "Where were you? We use to make up these stories on why we were given up, because we didn't want to believe that our parents, our mothers, who held us, their babies, would just give us up. You gave me away to nothing! Like I didn't matter to you, because I didn't!" Lux yells.

"No, Lux, you matter. You do. You matter now." Lux didn't want to hear it. "No, you matter!"

Lux stands up away from Cate. "No. Now doesn't count. I'm sorry. I don't forgive you, Cate. I don't." Lux grabs her bag and leaves the office.

"I know it doesn't feel like it, but what you had today was a breakthrough." Fern tells Cate and Baze. Lauren just sat there staring down at her hands. She wanted to run after Lux and tell her she was sorry. She was a mistake, too, but they kept her, and it felt wrong. "I know you tried shouldering the blame. But it doesn't belong to you. I'm not going to remove Lux from your care. If anything this shows me that you are a real family, through all the bumps and bruises that a teenager brings. And I think you two should consider having your parental rights reinstated."

Cate and Baze smile, happily. "Really?" Baze asks her.

"Is there really a chance at that?"

"Well, since you have Lauren, there's definitely a chance. I can see how much she means to you, and all four of you are a committed to making this work. Maybe Lux most of all. She's thinks she is risking losing you all over again." Fern says.

Cate shakes her head. "No, she shouldn't worry about that. Ever."

Fern smiles. "You don't have to convince me. You have to convince Lux."

Baze, Cate, and Lauren walk out of the building. They pretty quiet, thinking about what Lux had said.

"Well, that was exciting." Baze says trying to break the mood.

Cate looks over at Lauren who is being really distant. "Sweetie, you okay?"

Lauren gives her a small smile. "Can I just go for a walk? Please?"

Cate and Baze look at eachother concerned. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you at home." Cate tells her as she kisses her on her cheek. Lauren walks away slowly, stuck in her thoughts. "Should we be worried?" Cate asks Baze.

Baze watches his other daughter walk away from them. "Yeah, I think so." He says putting his arm around Cate.

On her way to Bug's, Lux sees Jones on the side of the road, working on his car. She runs over to him. "Jones?" Jones looks up, and looks a bit embarassed.

"Uh, hey, Lux. What are you doing here?" He asks her.

"I had some family stuff to deal with. What are you doing? Truck broke down?" Lux laughs looking over the hood.

Jones looks back at his truck. "Uh, yeah. I think it might be time for a new truck."

Lux laughs. "Um, Jones, I.." Lux was starting to talk, but she hears a motorcycle, and sees Bug riding towards her. She knew she couldn't lie now, Bug caught her.

Bug pulls up next to him and takes off his helmet. "What the hell are you doing, Lux?"

"I was walking over to your place, but I seen Jones here having trouble with his truck." Lux tells him.

"I don't think Mr. Abercrombie needs your help fixing his truck." Bug says angry.

Lauren sees Lux and Bug arguing, and Jones standing there awkwardly watching them go at it. Lauren runs over to them.

"Lux, what's going on?"

Lux could see the worry in Lauren's face. "Nothing. Lauren, go back home."

"No. I'm not leaving you."

"Yeah, maybe you should listen to you sister, Lux. I think white bread here just wants to know what it's like to hook up with damaged goods." Bug says bitterly.

Lux couldn't believe Bug just said that about her. "Bug.."

"Man, I think you better leave." Jones tells him, stepping up in front of Bug. Bug bows up to him.

"What you gonna do Abercrombie?"

Lux gets in between them. "Bug, stop it!"

"Whatever." Bug says putting his helmet on and drives away.

"Jones, I am so sorry."

Jones smiles at her. "Don't worry about it. Can I walk you and Lauren home?"

Lux looks at Lauren and smiles. "Yeah. Thanks."

The three of them start walking away together.

At Ryan's, Cate walks up to the door and knocks until Ryan opens the door.

"Hey." Ryan could tell something was upsetting Cate. "What's wrong?"

Cate walks in, not waiting for an invite from Ryan. "I need your help. Lux says she can't forgive me for giving her up, and I can't really get through, and neither can Baze, so I was thinking for another person who can't forgive me, you can, um, you can talk to her?" Cate was more like pleading with him to talk to Lux.

Ryan knew by the look on Cate's face, she was desperate. "You can't keep coming to me like this."

"I know." Cate says nodding her head, understanding what Ryan was talking about. She just didn't know what else to do. "I'm sorry." She sighs and starts walking towards the door. Ryan turns around and watches her. But Cate stops and turns back around. "Well, can I at least tell you something?" It was hard for Cate to make eye contact with Ryan, and he could definitely tell she was uncomfortable, but at the same time truely sad, and hurt. "I've never told anyone this before. I've never held Lux after she was born. I mean the nurses kept wanting me to. They kept bringing her in, but I knew if I held her, then I'd want her. I push everyone away. I've done it my whole life, until recently. I know, Ryan, you say that I have to change, but what you don't realize is that I have. I mean I started to change the moment Lux walked back into my life." Ryan sits down, listening to carefully to Cate. "Because for the first time in my life, I felt a possibility. You know, for the first time in my life, I saw, I saw a dream that I wasn't afraid to want. I'm not saying that I've changed overnight. It has been slow, and I have made a lot of mistakes. I know that I lied to you about Baze. I know that was wrong, it was beyond wrong. But at the time, I thought I had to, or I would lose you. But it wasn't about losing, it was about losing the person that I was becoming with you, and Lux. I wanted us to be a family. But so much has happened, I don't expect you to understand, or forgive me. But can you at least just help me?" Cate begs him with her eyes. Ryan looks away, unsure on what to say.

At Baze's, Lauren had already went in, but Lux stayed behind with Jones.

"Hey, thanks for walking us home. I could tell Lauren was a little freaked." Lux tells her.

Jones smiles. "No. It's okay. He didn't mean what he said." Lux looks at him, confused. "Bug."

Lux shakes her head. "Yeah, um, I guess he's been really angry lately. He doesn't have anything, ya know. So, he's trying."

"No, you're wrong. He does have one thing, he has you."

"Had me." Lux corrects him.

"Yeah, you don't deserve to be treated that way, Lux. You're better than that, and I mean it. How he spoke to you, that's not love, Lux."

"Thanks." Lux says, smiling at him, before turning away and heading inside.

In the loft, Lauren is sitting on the barstool as she watches Baze cook.

"Since when do you cook?" Lauren asks him, curiously. He never been one to cook, just mix drinks.

"Hey, there's more to me than mixing drinks. Plus, since you and Lux have been here a lot, I thought it was time to fix you guys a good nutritional meal instead of fast food. I think you get enough of it at your mom's." Baze tells her, laughing. Lauren smiles at him. "Speaking of your mom, she is really worried about you."

"Why?"

"Well, you seemed a little off after the evaluation, and I seen it, too. Are you okay?" He asks her as he leans down on the counter in front of Lauren.

Lauren shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I mean, hearing Lux talk about her life in foster care, it kinda hurts, ya know? I feel really bad."

"Why do you feel bad? It's not your fault." Baze tells her.

Lauren snorts. "Are you sure about that?" If it wasn't for me, maybe Mom would have went look for her. I was a mistake, too, but you guys kept me."

Baze takes Lauren's hand, lovingly. "Lauren, none of this is your fault. I mean, yeah we should have been better parents and looked for Lux, but we didn't know she was in trouble. We kept you because we wanted you. We wanted Lux, but we were sixteen, we thought there was better life out there for her. We love you and Lux just the same. I wish I could have watched Lux grow up just like I did with you, and I'll probably always regret it, but we did what we did and it's done. Now, all we can do is try to fix it, and make it better for Lux." Lauren nods her head understanding, but she still felt guilty.

The next day, Lux is sitting at the park, looking out onto the water. She sees someone walking up to her and smiles when it's Ryan.

"I thought I'd find you here." He says sitting down next to her. "You're thinking spot?"

"I've had a lot of thinking to do lately."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. Lux, I think it's more than not forgiving Cate" Ryan says jumping right into it. "You and Cate are so much alike, it's crazy." He laughs. "You're both scared you really want things. You're scared if you do, it'll hurt too much if you don't get them, or they disappear. Cate's not going anywhere. She's changed, Lux, and you're the one who changed her."

Lux was trying to absorb everything in that Ryan was telling her. Trying to understand, wanting to believe him. "You don't really believe that?"

Ryan nods his head. "Yeah, I do."

"Then I don't get it. You come here, to find me to tell me that Cate's changed. That I should give her another chance. But if you really believe that that's true, then why can't you?" She asks him.

Ryan looks at her then sighs. He was unsure how to answer that. He was trying hard to make Lux understand, that he wasn't trying to make himself understand it, either."

At the loft, Lauren is looking through her school work when she hears tapping on the door. She looks over and sees Jake standing there. She smiles and runs to open it.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren laughs.

"I think I owe you a birthday present." He says holding up his guitar.

Lauren looks confused. "What are you talking about?"

Jake sits down and starts playing Lauren a song on his guitar. Lauren just stares at him, completely happy, and surprised.

Lux knocks on Bug's door. When he opens it, he smiles at her sadly.

"Lux, hey."

Lux makes herself into his place. "Hey. This won't take long. You know, I was telling you the truth when I said I was coming to your place, but I seen Jones."

"Did anything ever happen between you and Jones?" Bug asks her.

"I went to Winter Formal with him." Bugs throws his plate of food down that he was holding. "Nothing happened. We just went and we danced. When Baze found the condom he thought it was Jones, but it wasn't."

"Do you like him?" Bug asks her, avoiding contact with her.

"I don't know. You were so mad, Bug. I deserve better then how you treated me in front of Jones and Lauren yesterday."

"You want better, go find better. No one's stopping you." Bug says, looking at her. Lux looks at him and laughs, not believing what he just said. She starts walking towards the door. "What!" Bug yells, stopping Lux. "What am I suppose to say!"

Lux starts crying. "I don't know! Anything! I'm sorry, maybe?" She yells walking up to him. "I don't get this side of you. It's like you turn into your.."

"Don't say it." He interrupts.

"it's true. You've become your dad."

Bug shakes his head. "You should go be with Abercrombie."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"No, you're right. You deserve better." Bug tells her. "I don't want to be my dad. I never want to be that guy with you."

"No, Bug.." Bug walks over to his door and opens it.

"You need to go." He tells her. Lux looks at him, sad, and confused. "You shouldn't be with me."

Lux looks at him one last time, then walks out the door. Bug slams it shut and then punches his hand against the wall.

Lux walks into Baze's loft and goes outside on the roof. Baze is out there drinking at beer. Lux walks over to him. "Hey, can I talk to you?"

Baze scoots over and puts his beer down. "Of course." Lux sits down next to him as Baze wraps a blanket around her.

"So, I've been doing some thinking. You, me, this." She laughs. "Before I moved in, I had Lauren with me. I had my sister, and it actually felt like we were a family. A broken one, but a family. But lately, it's been less happy, hot dog races, and laughs, and more fighting. And I don't like it. I don't want to fight with you, or Cate, and especially not Lauren. She's already screwed up from all of this. I just want to make things better for her, and help her understand that I'm not going anywhere anymore."

"You've become a pretty good sister, Lux."

"It hasn't felt like it." She tells him. Lux takes a long breath out and looks back at Baze. "I want to go back. All this trying to be a dad stuff has gotten in the way. I want to go back to just being friends with you."

Baze looks down at his hands and sighs. "Um, it doesn't work like that. I can't just flip a switch and go back. You can be my friend, that's fine. But I will never stop being your dad."

Lux smiles at Baze. It finally felt right. It felt like she truely had a dad. But now it was time to be a daughter to Cate, and a sister to Lauren.

At Cate's, Cate is going through her laundry again, when she sees the puppy laying in the basket. She takes the puppy out and sets it on the floor.

"Lauren, what did I tell you about this dog!" She yells towards the ceiling. There's a knock on her door as she groans and puts the puppy in it's pin. Before she could walk to the door, Ryan opens it and lets himself in. Cate stops, confused.

"Hey. I was just thinking about you." She says going back to sifting through her laundry.

Ryan walks towards her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I mean, I was just thinking about your hot legs and my cold feet." She jokes. Ryan smiles. "And why it's so hard to keep a pair of socks together, but I'm thinking this puppy here is eating them since he enjoys my laundry so much." She says looking over at the puppy.

Ryan stares at her. "Um, you got a puppy?" He asks surprised.

Cate laughs. "Yeah. Baze got him for Lauren for her birthday."

"And you allowed it?"

"Yeah, I couldn't break that little heart. She's been through so much already."

"Yeah, but I bet she isn't the only one." He says moving away as Cate watches Lux walk through the door. She stares, flabbergasted. Lux smiles and walks towards her. She had tears in her eyes that she couldn't control.

"Hi." She says to Cate, as Cate walks slowly to her. Lux puts her bags down. "Look, here's the thing, I can't promise that this is going to work. That I won't get upset, and that I won't take it out on you. I broke up with Bug. And I know that I seem like I'm okay, but I'm more messed up inside than you realize. The truth is, I don't forgive you. I don't know when I'll ever be able to forgive you. But I want to be with Lauren. I know we don't know eachother, but I want to know her. None of this is her fault, and I know she's been beating herself up for it."

Cate shakes her head. "Lux, you don't have to. You don't ever have to forgive me. I'm never going to be able to forgive me. I just want a chance to make it right with you." Cate was starting to cry. "Can you tell me what I have to do to make it right?"

Lux laughs through her tears. "Let me come home." She tells Cate. Cate sighs, happily, and runs into Lux embracing her lovingly as Lux cries on her shoulder. Cate rubs her back soothingly.

Ryan looks on smiling. Successful with what he's done. Now he had to fix things. He had to make things better with him and Cate.

Later, Ryan is making a fire when Cate comes back downstairs. He looks over at her.

"Well?"

"Well, she is with Lauren, and they are unpacking her things." Cate tells him. "I can't believe it. I never thought she'd come back." Ryan chuckles. "How'd you do it? What'd you say to her to make her come back?"

"The truth." He says. "And I know that earlier you did, too." He walks closer to Cate. "Look, I don't like being lied to, and I don't like being played. And it would be hard for anyone to put themselves into your shoes the day Lux came back. And that day was life changing. For all of you. What you and I were, or weren't, is not an excuse for what you did. I'm just saying. And you were right. You were changing. You didn't lie because you hadn't changed. You lied because you did. I just wanted to do the right thing, ya know? Take my own advice. I want to be able to forgive you, Cate. And I want to be there for Lux, and for Lauren."

Cate nods her head. "Yeah, I know, but you can't." She says trying to figure out where this was all going. "Ryan, I only wanted to be a person that was worthy of you. I still do." She assures him. "Whether or not we're together. My girls love you, and so do I. I can't thank you enough for everything."

Ryan laughs. "You kicking me out now, or what?"

"No, of course not." She laughs.

"Cause I could stay. I could help you find those socks, because I really don't want to deal with your cold feet tonight." He says moving closer to Cate. Cate looks at him. Ryan touches her face and leans in to kiss her.

Lauren and Lux walk in, smiling widely. "So, does that mean you're staying?" Lauren asks him.

Ryan and Cate pull apart and smile at them. "I'm staying." He tells her.

Lauren squeals happily and runs over into Ryan's arms, hugging him tightly.

Cate puts her arm around Lux. "I love my necklace by the way."

Ryan laughs. "I knew that you would. But I think we should change that picture." He pulls out his cell phone and moves himself and Lauren closer to Cate and Lux. They all smile as he snaps the picture. 


	11. I Came Around

Everything is going great with Cate and Ryan. Ryan was back to sleeping over, and not taking his hands off of Cate, ever. It almost made Lauren and Lux sick to the their stomach, even though they were happy to see the two at it again. It was morning and Cate and Ryan have the day off from work, so Cate took it upon herself to sneak out of bed and prepare Ryan a surprise.

Cate walks in with a tray of something and some orange juice. Ryan turns over and smiles at her, lovingly.

"Wow. Sex, and now breakfast? Wait, when did you learn to make breakfast?" He asks, looking up at her, confused.

Cate smiles and climbs into the the bed and sets the tray on top of him. She takes the covering off the plate and it reveals a small box.

"It may be a record." She tells him as she picks up the box and sets the tray aside. "Ryan." Cate opens the box, showing him the ring. "Will you marry me?"

Ryan smiles and nods his head repeatedly. Cate laughs as she leans in and kisses him gently on his lips.

At school, Lauren and Lux are walking down the sidewalk when they run into Jones.

"I'll see you later." Lauren tells her as she walks away leaving the two alone.

"Hey." Jones says.

"What's up?"

"Well, I was wondering how you are. The other day was pretty crazy. And I know I didn't have the right to tell you how your boyfriend should treat you, but that's not the way I'd treat my girlfriend." Jones tells her.

Lux sighs and looks back up at him. "We broke up."

"What? Lux, I'm so sorry. I hope it wasn't because of me."

Lux laughs. "Uh, well, no, you were right, Jones. I didn't deserve to be treated that way, plus there were a whole bunch of other issues that Bug had that we just couldn't deal with right now."

Jones nods his head. "I understand."

"Hey, um, what are you doing tonight?" Lux asks him, curiously.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Why?"

"Well, me and Lauren are staying in tonight while Cate and Ryan go to the studio, and just hang out watching movies. You're more than welcome to join us."

Jones smiles. "I'd love to. Your mom won't mind?"

"Nah. So, you'll come?"

"Yeah, I'll come." He tells her.

Lux smiles up at him. "Great."

In the library, Lauren and Jake are sitting together silently as Jake stares into his math book, and Lauren stares at him.

"What have I told you about staring? You'll never get your work done." He jokes.

Lauren rolls her eyes at him. "So, you're just going to act like the other night didn't happen?"

"Nothing did happen." He reminds her. "I just played the guitar. So what?"

"But why? It's not like I asked you to."

Jake laughs in disbelief. "Whatever. You said you wanted to hear me play. So, I thought since it was your birthday that I'd play for you. It's not a big deal."

"How did you know where I lived." She asks, curiously.

"Your file." He says a little embarassed.

Lauren's eyes widen. "What! That's personal, ya know?"

"Yeah, but since I'm a tutor, I have the right to look at them. You have two addresses by the way. Are you confused on where you stay?"

"No." She laughs. "My parents aren't together. I mainly live with my mom. Which makes me wonder which one you knew I was at."

"Lucky guess." He tells her.

Lauren wasn't sure if she should be scared or not, but she was definitely surprised that he made the effort to find her and play her a song on his guitar. But now he was acting like none of it wasn't a big deal, when it is the biggest deal.

At Cate's, Ryan and Cate are in the kitchen making breakfast, well Cate is on her computer watching Ryan make breakfast.

"So, how do you feel about dance lessons?" She asks him.

He gives her a weird look. "Why do I need dance lessons?"

"Well, for both us. For the wedding." Cate informs him.

"I thought you weren't into this wedding stuff."

Cate shakes her head. "No, no, no, that was the old Cate. The new Cate thinks 'whats not to like' caterers, registries, even though sentimental commitment gives me the heebie geebies."

Ryan walks up beside her. "You should write that in your vows."

"Choose Maid of Honor." Cate says looking at the computer.

"What are you thinking?"

"You think Lux and Lauren would both do it?" She asks looking over at Ryan.

Ryan smiles at her. "I don't think they'd pass up the chance." He tells her as she jumps in excitement from her seat. He laughed at how cute she was and kisses her lightly on her head.

In Cate's room, Cate is in her wedding dress standing in front of Lauren and Lux.

"Maid of Honor?" Lux says trying to process what Cate just asked her.

"Mom, are you sure?" Lauren asks.

Cate looks at both of them. "Sure, I'm sure!"

"Maid of Honor is such a big deal." Lux tells her.

Cate smiles. "I know."

"But maybe Lauren should just do it. I mean I just got here."

"You're apart of this family, just as much as Lauren is. You're my daughter, too."

Lauren and Lux look at eachother and smile. "We'll do it." Lauren says excitedly as they both jump into Cate's arms hugging her tight. Cate laughs, happily. She wasn't sure if Lux was going to say yes or not. Things were finally going the way she wanted them to.

They pull away from eachother and Cate looks at herself in the mirror again. "This dress, right? I mean it's from the wedding benefit Ryan and I put on, but it looks alright, right?"

Lux smiles at her. "It's perfect."

Their mother; daughters moment was soon interrupted when Lauren's dog runs in. The dog was still so very tiny, Cate had almost washed him twice in the washer, and almost stepped on him at least ten times. Lauren smiles wildly when she sees him.

"Hi, baby!" Lauren says, scooping him up in her arms.

Cate rolls her eyes and laughs towards Lux who laughs back as they watch the interaction between Lauren and the tiny dog.

"Wow. I don't even get that type of reaction when I walk into the room." Cate jokes.

Lauren kisses the puppy lovingly on the head. "Did you ever give that dog a name?" Lux asks her.

"Foster." Lauren says simply.

"What?" Cate and Lux both say together.

"Foster. Kinda suits him. Ya know, I adopted him and all." Lauren tells them

Cate and Lux laugh. "Nice." Lux says.

Lauren laughs as she runs out with the puppy. "I don't know where she gets her goofyness from." Cate says looking back at the mirror.

Lux laughs, and thinks about how lucky she is. She couldn't believe she was going to be one of Cate's maid of honors. If someone would have told her all this would happen back when she was in Sunnyvale. She'd probably punch them right in their face at how stupid they were being.

"Oh, um, Cate, since you and Ryan are going to be out tonight and it's just going to be me and Lauren, is it okay that I invited Jones to come hang out with us? Just to watch movies and eat pizza with us."

Cate smirks. "You and Jones, huh?"

"No! It's not like that. He's been a really good friend lately, especially since me and Bug split up so I'd like to make it up to him." Lux explains.

"Yeah. It sounds alright with me. There's a storm coming tonight, so me and Ryan won't be out too long. We just have a meeting at the studio then we'll be back." Cate tells her.

"Okay, cool. Thanks, Cate."

"You're welcome."

At Baze's, Baze and Math are sitting in front of the tv playing some video game, when Abby walks in.

"Baze!" She yells.

Math and Baze stop playing and look at eachother. "Uh, does she like live here now?" Math asks him.

Baze looks completely dumbfounded. "Abby, what are you doing here?" He asks when Abby walks in.

"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to go to yoga with me. Sitting around playing video games is not good exercise." She tells him.

"Um, yeah, it is. I'm exercising my fingers to keep them in shape when I serve drinks." He informs her.

"Come on, Baze. Come to yoga with me." She begs.

"Why aren't you asking your sister? Maybe Lux and Lauren would go, too. I'm very busy here."

She squints oddly at him. "You're busy playing a video game with Math?"

"Yeah. It's a pretty intense game." Abby walks over and grabs another controller. "Um, what are you doing?" He asks her, confused.

"I'm playing with you. Add me in." She says seriously.

Math and Baze look at eachother, not sure what to do, but then end up doing what they were told and add Abby into their game. It was truely weird.

At Cate's, Ryan and Cate are getting their things together, while Lauren is looking through the movies and Lux is in the kitchen making popcorn.

"Okay, money is on the table for the pizza. We should be back in a few hours." She kisses Lauren on her cheek. "I love you both. Have fun and lock the doors please." Cate says as she and Ryan rush out the door.

"So, I guess we're going '80s tonight?" Lauren asks Lux.

Lux turns her head. "Yeah, they're classics. You'll love them, I promise."

"The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink?"

"What kind of pizze do you like?" Lux asks as she picks up the phone.

"Foster, what kind of pizza do you want?" Lauren asks the dog like it was nothing.

Lux stares at her, unsure if she heard correctly. "You are not feeding pizza to the dog." Before Lauren could argue the phone rings. "Um, hello?" Lux answers. "Oh, hey, Jones. Ugh, seriously? Alright, cool. See ya later." She hangs up. "Jones is going to be a little late."

"Okay, well I guess we'll just have to start without him." Lauren says popping in a dvd. "The Breakfast Club it is."

At Baze's, Baze is holding a bucket while water drips down into it.

"Man, we got no business in the bar because of this stupid storm, and now my roof is leaking."

Math walks over to him. "You know Abby deleted all my trailblazer series for some show called Jersey Shore?"

"Sh. She might hear you talking about her. I really don't want to have another talk about how I think my life is bad because I talk about other people, again with her." Baze tells him.

"Baze, she's in the bathroom. I'm pretty sure she can't hear me. Look man, why is she here like everyday? It's weird."

"Yeah, I know. Look she isn't that bad."

"Not bad?" Math yells. "Dude, Cate's sister is visiting you like everyday! That's not bad?"

"What's not bad?" Abby asks when she walks in.

"Um, the weathers not that bad." Math says lamely because clearly it was horrible.

Abby laughs. "Math, take another look outside."

"Yeah." Math says walking away, awkwardly.

Suddenly his front door flies open and Ryan and Cate walk in soaked.

"Oh my gosh!" Cate says shaking the rain off.

"Um, what are you two doing here?" Baze asks, confused.

Ryan didn't look happy. "Sorry. We were on our way to the studio and pretty much couldn't see the road anymore so we had to stop. You just happened to be where we stopped." Ryan says taking off his coat.

"Abby, why are you here?" Cate looks at Abby weirdly.

Abby hesitates and looks at Baze for help. "She was on her way home, and like you guys, she couldn't see so she stopped here."

"But Mom's house is on the other side of town."

"Yeah, but I had to meet with a client around here." Abby lies.

"Oh."

"Where is Lux and Lauren?" Baze asks them.

"They are having a movie night at the house tonight." Cate tells him. "Don't worry. As soon as this storm passes, we will be out of here."

"Thank God." Ryan says under his breath, but Baze heard him, and he rolls his eyes.

"Well, you guys might have awhile." Math says looking at the tv. "It says the storm may not pass till three in the morning."

Cate sighs in frustration. "What! Great. Let me call the girls." Cate walks away from the group. They all stare at eachother awkwardly.

Lauren hands up the phone with Cate. "Mom and Ryan had to stop at Dad's because of the rain. So, they are going to be really late." She tells Lux. She and Lux were both sitting comfortably on the couch watching the movie.

"K." Lux says as soon as the lights go out. "What!" She groans.

"I'll get the candles." Lauren says getting up and walking to the hallway closet.

"This sucks." Lux says as Lauren walks back in and puts the candles on the table and lights them. "What are we suppose to do now? This weather isn't going to end anytime soon which means no lights anytime soon."

"I know. I was just getting into the movie, too." Lauren tells her.

At Baze's, Math looks out the window.

"Man, it's crazy out there. All the lights are out." He tells them.

Cate takes off her wet coat. "This cannot be happening. We can't be stuck here!"

"I hope the girls are okay." Baze says as he lights some candles.

"I'm sure they're fine. Jones is suppose to be there so he'll keep them safe."

"What? Jones?" Baze asks her, surprised. "You let a guy stay in the house with our two daughters?"

"Jones is a good guy, Baze." Ryan tells him.

"Yeah, they all seem good, then they get them pregnant, or leave a condom."

"Like you?" Cate says.

"What? No! Well, yeah, but no!"

Cate smirks. "Jones is a good guy and he didn't leave that condom, so get over it."

Abby looks through the kitchen cabinets. "Is anyone hungry?" She pulls out some donuts. "Oh, donuts. Anyone want some?"

"Ugh, we should not be here with you idiots and your donuts. We have an important meeting to go to!" Cate says, frustrated.

"Uh, who has a meeting at nine at night?" Math asks her.

"We do! Ugh!" Cate groans.

Ryan walks over to Cate and sits her down on the couch. "Just calm down. We'll be out of here soon." He kisses Cate on her cheek.

Baze acts like he is about to throw up. "Ugh, please, not in my place."

"So, Cate, while we're here why don't we talk about the wedding. Should I have a different dress than the bridesmaids or what?" Abby asks her as she looks through a bridal magazine.

Cate and Ryan look at eachother. Cate didn't know how to break it to her sister that her daughters were her maid of honors, not her.

At Cate's, Lauren and Lux are eating their pizza in the dark.

"Do you think Jones ditched you on purpose?" Lauren asks her.

Lux rolls her eyes. "No. Clearly, the rain is keeping him."

"So, what's going on with you and your tutor?" Lux asks her, curiously.

Lauren gets up and walks to the kitchen. "Fine. I'm really learning a lot."

Lux laughs and follows her. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, are you still crushing on him? Does he like you?"

Lauren sighs. "I really like him, but he's been really weird."

"Weird how?"

"Okay, so, when I was at Dad's he came by and played the guitar for me, like as a birthday present." Lux smiles. "And I never told him where I lived, so like he made the effort to actually look for it in my file. That says he likes me, BUT, when he is tutoring me, he acts like he doesn't. I'm so confused." Lauren explains.

"What's his name?" Lux asks.

"Jake. Jake Phillips."

Lux turns away. That name seemed really familiar to her. Then it clicked. She turns back towards Lauren. "Jake Phillips, as in the Sophomore that is in my class?" Lauren nods her head. "I thought you said he was your age?"

"Well, he's close. He's only three years older than me." Lauren tells her.

Lux shakes her head, laughing. "No way. There's no way you are dating a sixteen year old, Lauren. Cate and Baze would go crazy."

"They wouldn't have to know, and we aren't dating!"

"But you want to date him. Lauren, you can't. He's three years older than you. It would never work."

"Gee, thanks, sis." Lauren says, sarcastically, as she walks back to the living room.

Lux sighs. She knew she shouldn't have handled it that way. She follows Lauren into the living room and sits on the other side of the couch, facing Lauren. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted like that. I mean, I'm right in the same boat as you."

Lauren looks confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I just broke up with Bug, and I'm already inviting Jones over to hang out."

"Do you still love Bug?" Lauren asks.

Lux thinks for a second. "I think I'll always love Bug, but we been through so much already, that I think he was taking me for granted, ya know? I've always been there, but now I have a family. I found my parents. He never thought I would."

"But you knew that you would?"

"Maybe. But look I did, and now I have a sister, too." Lux says smiling at her.

Lauren smiles back. "So, do you like Jones?"

"Yeah. But I just want to be friends with him. It would never work out with us."

"Why?"

"Foster kid dating the quarterback? No, never good."

Lauren nods her head, not really understanding. "Was Bug the first person you could really count on? Is that way you stayed with him?"

Lux smiles. "No, that was Tasha."

At Baze's, Baze is putting out more candles, as Abby keeps talking about the wedding.

"So, what do you think? Pink? Tan? I don't even know what you like anymore." Abby says still looking into the magazine.

Cate shakes her head. "Abby.."

"Or, purple? Purple is usually a nice color. Oh, royal blue!"

"Abby, stop!"

"What? Cate, this stuff is important. I know it's never been important to you, but it's time to get serious." Abby tells her.

"You don't know me, Abby."

"Yeah, your right. You left as soon as you graduated, no goodbye or anything. What a great sister you were."

Cate stands up, angry. Ryan gets up, too. "Okay, stop."

Cate ignores him. "And I'm glad I did! I definitely wasn't getting anywhere living there with mom drinking herself away, and you at her beck and call all the time."

"Oh, so going get pregnant was a better life for you?" Abby says, definitely hitting below the belt.

Baze stops what he's doing when she mentions his kids. You don't bring the kids into this. "Abby."

"What? I'm right, Baze. She couldn't keep Lux, so she went out and had another four years later because she couldn't take the guilt. So, she had Lauren."

Cate goes to jump her, but Ryan grabs her. "That's exactly why my daughters are my Maid of Honors, not you!" Cate yells. Abby looks at Cate in disbelief.

"What?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Say something else about my kids, Abby. Go ahead."

Abby just throws down the magazine and walks away.

Ryan grabs Cate by her arms and makes her face him. "You okay?"

Cate wipes a few tears that managed to make their way out. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm going to go and check on the girls." Cate grabs her phone and walks away.

At Cate's, Lauren and Lux are talking to eachother on the couch.

"So, you and Tasha grew up together?" Lauren asks her.

Lux smiles. "Yeah. But not at Sunnyvale the whole time. After six months that me and Tasha met, I got a new placement, and then I was just bouncing around to foster home to foster home. Tasha and I always kept in touch, and we even stayed in the same home for a year, until Tasha set some ladies wig on fire and got booted back to Sunnyvale." Lauren laughs. "And I ended up back there, too. But for us it didn't really matter where we were, it was always just a holding cell to wait."

"For what?"

"For someone to want us." Lauren looks at her intrigued to hear more. "I always told myself that my mom was going to come back for me. So, I'd tell myself every time I'd go into a home that I wasn't going to get use to it because my mom was going to come get me."

"I'm sorry." Lauren tells her.

Lux looks at her confused. "Why are you sorry?"

Lauren sighs. "I kept her from looking for you. If I wasn't born then she probably would have."

Lux sits up and takes Lauren's hand. "Lauren, it wasn't your fault. Okay? You didn't even know I was out there."

"But Mom knew. I was a mistake, too, Lux. I should have never been born, but I was, and she kept me. I should have been put up for adoption, too." Lauren tells her, helplessly. She was on the verge of tears, and so was Lux.

Lux shakes her head. "No, Lauren, I would never wish that on you, ever."

"Maybe we would have found eachother!"

"We found eachother now, Lauren. I'm glad Cate kept you. If I had known you back then, I definitely would have wanted you to live this life, not me." Lux tells her.

At Baze's, Baze walks into his bedroom where Abby is, sitting on the bed. She looks up and gives him a small smile.

"Hey, Baze. I'm so sorry about what I said out there. I didn't mean it."

Baze sits down next to her. "Yeah, it's okay. I know you love your neices."

Abby nods her head. "I really do." She leans in and kisses Baze on his lips. Baze hurries and jumps up.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"I thought that's what you wanted!"

"What? No!" Baze yells, wiping his lips with his hand. "Your Cate's sister!"

"So, what? You weren't thinking about that everytime you asked me to come over." She tells him.

Baze freezes. "Hold up. I called you? Abby, you let yourself in everyday."

"And I didn't hear you telling me to leave."

Baze nods her head. She was right on that one. "Well, I am now. You can't keep coming here like this. Cate is the mother of my kids, I can't have their aunt hanging out here."

"I'm they wouldn't care."

"Yeah, they would. Look, your great Abby, but this is causing problems for me and Cate. She comes here a lot to pick up the girls and if she keeps seeing you then she'll start wondering and asking questions, she may even start keeping the girls from coming here. And I can't let that happen."

"Cate can't do that."

"I know, but it's Cate. She would do anything. I need to see my girls, and I can't keep hiding you." Baze explains.

Abby laughs. "Then don't. Just tell them."

"Tell them what?" Baze asks her.

"That you like me. That I like you. They'll get over it."

"What? No, Abby, I don't like you."

"Yes, you do. Baze, I can tell your just afraid to have what you want because you're afraid that you're going to lose it."

"No, don't use that psychologist crap on me, Abby. I don't!" He could tell Abby was still not getting it. "Look, I have feelings for Cate!" He lies.

"What? Since when?" Abby asks him. She disgusted, hurt, and about to cry at the same time.

"Um, since, well, its been building up for the last couple months." Baze tells her. "I know it's hard to believe, but I do, I have feelings for Cate."

"I had no idea." Abby sighs.

"Neither did I." Cate says walking into the room. Baze turns and looks at Cate. He wasn't sure how to explain to Cate what she just heard. "What do you mean you have feelings! What feelings?"

"Feelings, feelings like the kind people feel." Baze tells her. Cate starts pacing the room. "Cate, will you just relax!"

"How am I suppose to relax? How is this suppose to work with all of us? With the girls, with us? If you have feelings for me?" She asks in panic. "I mean why would you ever tell me this? With Ryan in the next room!"

"I didn't! I told Abby!"

"Now it's going to be weird around you! When I come to pick up the girls. I won't be able to come inside. Oh my gosh. This is going to be weird for Lux and Lauren! Weird for Ryan. What am I suppose to tell Ryan? You're like this gigantic issue for him already. He's finally back. We're happy. We're all happy now. We are getting married." She rambles.

"Oh my gosh, Cate, shut up!" Baze excuses himself out. "You're sitting here bitching about how Lux and Lauren are going to feel about this, but really you're just scared that Ryan is going to find out that you have feelings for Baze, too!" Abby yells.

"Okay, don't do this therapy talk on me. You got your license like online!" Cate yells.

"Oh my gosh! One class! Your rushing to marry Ryan, but the second Baze says he likes you, you freak out. If you didn't have feelings for Baze, it wouldn't matter to you!" Abby says leaving the room.

Cate stands there, stunned. What Abby just said was going round and round in her brain and she couldn't make it go away. Baze walks back into the room. "Cate!"

Cate turns around, surprised. "So, you and I..uh, we need to talk about this. I didn't mean to seem ungrateful, believe me I am flattered."

"Whoa." Baze says stopping her. "I don't have any feelings for you, Cate. I lied. Abby has been coming over here everyday since the sex talk, and she thinks something was going on between me and her."

"What!"

"Yeah. I just told her that because it seemed like that was the only way she was going to accept that nothing was going to happen, and she would stop coming over."

Cate was looks at him, disgusted. "So, you lied to me! And you lied to my sister? Thanks, Baze." She says sarcastically and walks away from him.

At Cate's, Lauren and Lux are throwing popcorn into eachother's mouths, laughing.

"So, has Baze and Cate ever have anything going on?" Lux asks Lauren.

Lauren chuckles. "Yeah, right. When I was four, I remember fighting with Mom because all the other kids parents were together, and she and daddy weren't. I told her they needed to be together or I was running away."

Lux laughs. "What'd Cate do?"

"She made Dad come over and he slept on the couch for about two weeks straight, it was sweet, but I wasn't stupid. I knew they weren't together, or ever were going to be together. I just wanted to scare her."

"Well, I think you did." Lauren smiles. "I think they love eachother." Lux admits.

Lauren looks at her, amused. "No, they don't. They fight all the time, and plus Mom has Ryan."

Lux shrugs her shoulders. "So, what? People fight all the time, even when they love eachother."

Lauren just laughs and shakes her head. As much as she wanted her parents together, it wasn't going to happen, so she wasn't going to get her hopes us. "So, did any family want you?"

Lux sighs, sadly. "Yeah, this one family did. Well, I thought they did."

"What happened?"

"Well, as I was packing up, Fern came in and told me that they changed their mind. They were going with some little boy."

"How could they just do that!"

"They knew that I really didn't want them, so they wanted someone who did. I don't blame them. I probably wouldn't have took me in either."

"Is that why you wanted to get emancipated? You were tired of being disappointed?" Lauren asks.

"Yeah, maybe so. I knew if I got emancipated that I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. I wouldn't have to deal with strangers wanting me then sending me back. I was going to go out on my on, since I had been taking care of myself anyway. Then a year later I was standing in front of a judge being given back to Cate and Baze." Lux tells her. "It's ironic, huh?" She laughs. "I spent sixteen years wanting them, and that's when I got them."

"Wow. What you been through, Lux, you seem so at ease sometimes. I don't know how you do it. I mean if mom and dad actually did put me up for adoption and I just found them, I probably would have ran so many times like you."

"Crazy, huh?"

Lauren looks up at Lux. "No. Brave."

Lux smiles. "Thanks, Lauren. Your brave, too, ya know."

Lauren laughs. "Yeah, right."

"You are. I mean you stuck around here for thirteen years. Cate and Baze are crazy themselves but you stuck through it." She laughs. "You might have helped them. Helped them be good parents."

"No, that was you." Lauren tells her. "You made them better."

"Ya know, Lauren, I'll make you a deal. If you talk to Jake and explain to him how you feel, then I'll do the same with Jones. I mean I still don't agree with you and Jake, but if he makes you feel good, and you're happy, then who am I to stop that?"

Lauren squeals and hugs Lux, excitedly. Lux just laughs and wraps her arms tightly around her sister.

Later, Ryan and Cate walk in quietly. The storm finally stopped and the power was back on. Lux is cleaning up the living room, as Lauren sleeps on the couch with Foster in her arms.

"Hey." Cate whispers.

"Hey, guys. How was Baze's?" Lux jokes.

Cate rolls her eyes."Very funny." She kneels down next to Lauren and kisses her on her cheek. "How long has she been out?"

"About an hour."

"I'll take her up to her room." Ryan says picking up Lauren and going upstairs.

"Did you two have fun? Did Jones come?" Cate asks her.

Lux sits down on the couch next to Cate. "No. The storm kept him, but Lauren and I entertained ourselves. We did a lot of talking."

Cate smiles. "Good. I'm glad."

"She's a good, kid, Cate. You and Baze did a good job." Lux tells her.

Cate laughs and grabs Lux's hand. "Thanks, Lux. You're a good kid, too."

"Thanks to you." Lux smiles.

Cate pulls Lux to her and hugs her.


	12. Don't Hold Your Breath

It was finally Monday morning and all Lauren could think about all weekend was getting to school and talking to Jake. Lauren got up early, and dressed, before anyone woke up. Lauren looks at the clock and sees that it's only six thirty o'clock. She knew her mom would kill her if she woke her up on her day off, but suddenly that didn't matter anymore. Lauren, picks up Foster, and runs out to Cate's room. Lauren opens the door slowly, and peaks her head in. Cate and Ryan are fast asleep in eachother's arms. Lauren walks in and jumps right in the bed on the side of Cate. Cate opens her eyes and turns over. She looks at Lauren, very confused on why she was in her bed.

"What are you doing, crazy?" Cate asks her.

Lauren smiles. "You need to take me to school."

Cate looks at the clock. "Lauren, it's only six thirty in the morning, not to mention it's my day off. Your dad is going to be here at seven thirty."

"Mom, I need to go now." Lauren begs her. Cate grabs Lauren and pulls her down so that she is laying next to her. Lauren looks over at Ryan who is has not moved an inch. "Ryan kinda sleeps like a dead person."

Cate laughs to herself. She closes her eyes and cuddles Lauren closer to her. "Why do you need to go to school now?"

"I have something important to do."

"Well, couldn't this important thing wait until school actually opens at seven fifteen?" Cate asks her.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "I guess. But you have to take me as soon as it opens."

"Okay, okay. But until then, lay here with me, and sleep some more. I'm sure you'll need it for whatever this important thing is that you'll be doing." Cate tells her.

Lauren sighs. "Fine." She does as Cate tells her and she closes her eyes, going back into dreamland.

As soon as their alarm went off at seven, Ryan turns it off and Lauren gets up as fast as she can, pulling Cate out of bed.

"Oh my gosh. I gave birth to a crazy child." Cate groans as she follows Lauren out of the bedroom.

Cate and Lauren pull up at the school.

Lauren grabs her bag and is about to get out but Cate stops her. "Bye, Mom!"

"Hey, hold on. Since when do you want to be the first one at school?" Cate asks, suspiciously.

"What?" Lauren says innocently.

Cate smiles. "Is this about that boy you wouldn't tell me more about at Winter Formal? Are you early for him?"

Lauren laughs, embarassed. "Mom, you have no idea what your talking about."

Cate squeals. "It is!"

Lauren looks around making sure no one is watching her. "Mom, stop it. I have to go."

Lauren grabs her things and gets out her mom's car. She runs inside the school, trying to get completely out of her mom's sight.

Cate smiles as she watches Lauren. She couldn't believe her daughter, her youngest daughter, was already showing an interest in boys. Cate sat there wondering if Lauren ever told Lux about the boy. She had to get to the bottom of it.

At Cate's, Ryan is in the kitchen making breakfast when Lux comes downstairs.

"Hey, where's Cate?" Lux asks him. She goes to the fridge and takes out the milk.

"She went bring Lauren to school. She wanted to get to school early for something." Ryan tells her.

Lux laughs to herself. "Wow, she's really doing it." Lux says to herself, but Ryan hears her anyway.

"Doing what?" He asks.

Before Lux could cover up what she said, Cate walks in.

"Hey, I'm back." She closes the door and walks into the kitchen.

"Hey. Did you find out why she wanted to get to school so early?" Ryan asks.

Cate shakes her head. "No, but I think it has something to do with a boy. She didn't give me a straight answer when I asked her, but I'm pretty sure." Cate looks over at Lux, whose face is almost in her eggs. She smiles at her. "Lux, do you know anything about why Lauren is acting so weird?"

Lux looks up at Ryan and Cate. "Umm, yeah, I guess." Lux gets up and brings her plate to the sink.

"Well, what do you know? Who is he?" Cate asks her.

"Cate, why don't you just wait for Lauren to tell you."

"Because she won't and she told you. Lux, come on, tell me." Cate begs.

Lux hears Baze outside. "Sorry, gotta go!" Lux yells, grabbing her stuff and running out the door.

Cate sighs. "Ya know, I love the fact that they are bonding, but the whole sister secrets, I am not enjoying.

Ryans smiles. "So, Lauren, and boys? Really? Now?"

"Aw, Ryan, don't worry." Cate says, smiling at Ryan's cute overprotective self.

"She's thirteen." Ryan points out.

"Yeah, and she's a teenager. Ryan, she's going to like boys and we can't stop her."

"Does Baze know about this?" Ryan asks.

In Baze's truck.

"So, I don't get it. Lauren wanted to go to school early? Like really early? She's never wanted to go to school early. What's going on?" Baze asks.

"I'm not completely sure, okay? But I'll find out, and if it's something dangerous, or anything that will harm her life, I'll let you know. Until then, if Lauren wants you to know, then she'll tell you. Okay?"

Baze nods his head. "Fine. Okay. Oh, I almost forgot." He pulls out an envelope and hands it to Lux.

"What's this?" She takes the envelope and looks inside.

"It's the money I owe you."

Lux smiles. "Baze, no. I told you it's not a big deal."

"No. It is. I told you I would pay you back, so I am." He says in all seriousness. They pull up at the school. "Be careful with that, too, and have a nice day."

Lux laughs. "Later, Baze."

In the library, Jake and Lauren are at it again.

"I don't know how to do this crap, Jake." Lauren says throwing her pencil down. "Hey, since you have access to the files, maybe you could just fix my answers."

Jake looks at her, surprised. "You did not just ask me to cheat for you."

Lauren sighs. "No, I guess not."

Jake starts getting his things together. "Look, you'll get it. I have to get to class." He starts to stand up, but Lauren hesitates and stops him.

"No, um, wait." He sits back down and looks at her.

"What?"

"I like you, Jake. I'm not really sure if you like me, but if you do, it'll be really nice to know." Lauren hurries to tell him.

Jake just stares at her for a second, then he gets up and walks out. Lauren watches him leave and she sighs. She couldn't believe she told him all that and he just walked away without saying anything.

Lux closes her locker and Jones runs up to her.

"Lux!" He yells. Lux turns around and smiles.

"What's up, Jones?"

"I wanted to apologize about the other night. I'm really sorry for not being there."

Lux laughs. "I think I know you're sorry. You apologized ten times to my phone. It's okay, Jones. The storm was crazy, and it helped me get to know my little sister a little more, so thank you for not showing up."

Jones smiles. "Alright, then." He starts to walk away. Lux hesitates for a second before running after him.

"Jones, wait!" She yells catching up to him. "Okay, so, I made a deal with Lauren, and I have to go through with it because I'm pretty sure she is going through with her part of the deal as we speak."

Jones looks at her, confused. "What are you talking about, Lux?"

Lux sighs before continuing. "Okay, I know I just broke up with Bug, and it's still a really big deal and I'm trying to get over it. But I have to tell you that I like you, okay?" Lux breathes out, satisfied by how she handled her part of the deal. Jones just stares at her, and Lux walks away before Jones could answer her.

At Cate's, Cate is looking through a bridal magazine, when Ryan comes in with their lunch.

"Okay, so I was thinking maybe a pinkish color for the girls' dresses. Now, I know they both aren't really big on pink, but I think it'll look so pretty on both of them." Cate says.

Ryan starts taking out the chinese food. "I'm sure the girls won't care, considering it's your wedding."

"Yeah, I know. But I want them to enjoy it, too, ya know? So, have you checked lately to see who rsvped on the website?" Cate asks him.

Ryan shakes his head. "I thought that was your job."

"This is your wedding, too, ya know?"

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Yeah, but i thought I'd just have to show up. That's usually what they do, right?"

"Whatever, Ryan." Cate gets on the computer and goes to the wedding website. She looks through the names. "So, everyone has pretty much rsvped except for Baze. What the hell?"

"You invited him?" Ryan asks. He thought that was a little weird.

"He's the girls' father." Cate says in an obvious tone.

Ryan just ignores it. He knew it was a battle he was going to lose. No matter what Baze would always be in the picture, whether he liked it or not.

At school, Baze pulls up and both girls get in. Lauren slams her door and throws her bag on the floor. She was clearly angry and Baze was quickly concerned. He looks at Lux, but she just shrugs her shoulders.

He looks back at Lauren. "Can I ask what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we just go home?" Lauren asks him as she keeps her eyes out the window.

Baze nods her head. "Yeah, okay."

At Cate's, Lux and Baze get into the house first. Cate is sitting on the couch when they walk in.

"Hey, where's Lauren? Did you leave her again?" Cate asks Baze sternly. They all walk towards eachother.

Baze shakes his head. "No, Cate. She's getting her stuff together. Look, she came in the truck pretty pissed and we have no idea what happened, soo.." Before he could finish Lauren walks in throwing her stuff on the floor and slamming the door.

Cate looks at them confused, then runs over to Lauren. "Hey, sweetie. How was school?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" She yells as she runs upstairs to her room.

Cate turns around and looks back at Baze and Lux. "What the hell was that? She was in a good mood this morning."

Baze shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. She wouldn't talk to me about it."

Lux looks down at her shoes, and Baze and Cate look at her. "Lux, what's wrong with Lauren?" Cate asks her.

"Okay, but you guys need to promise not to make a big deal about it." Lux tells them.

They both nod their head. "Yeah, we promise." Baze says.

Lux sighs. "Okay, the other night, Lauren was telling me about this guy that she likes, but she wasn't sure if he likes her or not because he's giving her mixed signals. Well, we made up a lame deal that if she tells him how she feels, then I'll tell Jones how I feel. She was pretty excited about it, but I guess something happen, hence why she's so angry." Lux explains.

"A guy? This is all over a guy?" Baze asks her. Lux nods. "Well, what's his name so I can kick his ass?"

Cate grabs Baze's arm, so that he doesn't go out and do something stupid. "Now, hold on. We don't know the whole story. She may not even be mad about that."

"Do you guys want me to go and talk to her, since technically you weren't even suppose to find out." Lux asks.

"Why couldn't she tell us?" Cate asks.

"Because she knew you'd freak, and I'm so glad she was right." Lux says sarcatically.

Cate sighs. "Alright, yeah, you should go talk to her."

"Okay." Lux says walking away from them.

Cate and Baze fall back on the couch, sighing, both staring straight ahead.

"A boy?" Baze says, still in disbelief. "She's only thirteen."

Cate rolls her eyes. "Okay, just like I told Ryan, she's a teenager. She's going to start liking boys. Get use to it."

"I don't want to get use to it." He says, sadly. "I want her to be four again. It was so much easier."

Cate smiles at the thought. "I know, right? She was so tiny."

"And talkative. I think that age was the most talkative she's ever been. She was just starting to read and getting into all your books. Oh my gosh! Everytime I picked her up she would tell me what her new book was about, and it was usually something you were reading." Baze says.

Cate laughs. "What! She was excited! And I tried getting her to read books for her age, but she kept telling me they were boring. I couldn't force her."

Baze looks at Cate. "Do you think Lux was like that?"

Cate sighs. "I don't know. We don't really know much about her past, and it's not like she's telling us."

"Well, I'm glad she and Lauren are finally doing okay. Maybe they can tell eachother stuff they can't tell us, like about Lux's past."

Cate nods her head slowly. "Yeah, maybe. Hey, um, why haven't you rsvped to the wedding yet?"

Baze sits up and brushes his hair back with his hand. "Um, I'm having a scheduling conflict."

"Please! Your life is like summer camp. I'm sure you could squeeze it in, ya know, between canoeing and not bathing."

"No. I got the bar. I can't just shut it down." Baze points out.

"Look, I'd be uncomfortable. Does Ryan even want me there?" He asks.

"Ryan is fine with you there. What is this really about? I mean don't you want to see Lauren and Lux walk down the aisle?"

"Um, yeah, when they are actually getting married. And I'd like to be the one walking them, not Ryan."

Cate looks confused. "Seriously? Of course you would be the one to walk them? Ryan, wouldn't take that from you!" Cate argues.

Baze stands up. "Yeah, sure." He walks to the door. "I have to go. Tell Lauren to call me." He leaves, leaving Cate there unsure of what just happened, and so confused.

In Lauren's room, Lauren is sitting on her bed listening to her ipod when Lux walks in. Lux could see that she hadn't been crying, so that had to be a good sign, but it could be a bad one because it meant she was just too angry to cry. She walks over and sits down on Lauren's bed. She pulls out Lauren's earphones.

"Hey, I wanna talk." Lux tells her.

Lauren puts her ipod aside, and sighs. "I really don't want to talk."

"Is this about Jake? What did he do?" Lux asks her.

Lauren sits up on the side of Lux. "I just told him I like him."

"And what did he say?"

"He didn't say anything. Nothing. He just sat there staring at me, then he walked away. I felt like an idiot. I should have never said anything to him." Lauren says getting up and walking to her window.

Lux watches her. "I told Jones, too."

"What'd he say?"

"He didn't say anything. Well, actually, I didn't really give him a chance to. I just walked away." Lux tells her.

Lauren laughs. "Yeah, well, that doesn't really mean anything, does it? You just didn't give him the chance to say anything back."

Lux walks over to her. "Yeah, and maybe Jake just didn't know what to say because you just hit him with it so fast, he didn't have time to think."

Lauren shakes her head. "Don't make excuses for him, Lux. You didn't see his face. He looked so weirded out, and he ran out the library so fast, I couldn't even say anything to stop him. I shouldn't have done this. I can't go back to tutoring anymore. Oh my gosh! What if he doesn't want to tutor me anymore! I can't believe this!" Lauren starts panicing.

Lux grabs Lauren by her arms to calm her down. "Look, he's an idiot if he doesn't like you back. You are an awesome person, and any guy could see that."

"Then why can't he?"

Lux stared into Lauren's eyes. She looked so hurt and sad. Lux wasn't sure what to even say to that. Right now she was pretty much saying anything to make her sister feel better, but she was right, Lauren is an awesome person. She didn't want to have to kick this guys ass. Because he's just too stupid. He doesn't know how to handle you."

Tears start falling down Lauren's cheeks. "I really like him, Lux."

Lux takes Lauren in her arms and hugs her tightly. "I know you do. It'll be okay. I promise." They pull apart and Lux wipes Lauren's tears away. "Cate and Baze are really worried about you."

"Please don't tell them, Lux!"

They walk back over to Lauren's bed and sit down. "Well, Cate already figured out that it's about some guy. I didn't tell her who it was, but I told her that you would let her know everything when you're ready."

"I just want to stay in bed forever." Lauren says crawling back to her spot in the bed and laying down under her covers. She never knew how it felt to have your heartbroken until now. She was definitely not ready. Lux watches her. She definitely sympathized with her, but Lauren's young. Lux figured she'd get over it soon enough.

Lux goes downstairs, where Cate is on her computer. She goes and sits next to her.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Cate asks.

Lux shrugs. "I don't know. She needs you, but she's not ready yet."

Cate sighs. "Was I right? Was this about the guy?" Lux nods her head. "What happened?"

"She told him how she felt, and he didn't say anything. He just walked away." Lux tells her. She knew Lauren would kill her if she knew she told Cate. "Don't tell Lauren I told you, okay?"

"Yeah." Cate closes her eyes tight then she opens them again. "My poor baby girl. Her first heartbreak."

"She'll be okay." Lux assures her. "What are you doing?" Lux asks, taking an interest to the computer.

"Oh, um, wedding evites."

"Wedding evites?" Lux laughs. "Really?"

"What? It's easier, and I'm saving so much time."

Lux smiles and rolls her eyes. It would be Cate to do something more complicated. "So, how many are coming?"

"At least 200."

Lux frowns. "Seriously, two hundred?" Lux was suddenly nervous about this. Walking in front of two hundred people? "Do you even know know two hundred people?"

"What? Yeah. Of course I did. Between Ryan and I we know two hundred people. Why? Do you think that's too much?" Cate asks, worried.

"I don't know." Lux didn't want to say anymore to freak out Cate. She was already stressing out over the wedding and it hasn't even happened yet.

"So, Jones?" Cate asks smiling at Lux. "You like him?"

Lux rolls her eyes. "I told him I like him, but I'm not ready to date anyone yet. I'm still not fully over Bug."

"What did he say back?" Cate asks.

Lux smirks. "I walked away before he could answer."

"What! Lux! Why'd you do that?"

"I wasn't ready to hear what he had to say back. And he might not even like me back. So, whatever. It's cool. I don't need to know."

Cate laughs. "Wow. I have one thats heartbroken, and other that's a heartbreaker. Awesome." She says sarcastically. Lux just shakes her head and laughs. "Hey, do you know why Baze hasn't rsvped?"

"What? He hasn't?" Lux says, surprised.

"Yeah, do you know why?"

Lux just stares at the computer then at Cate. She couldn't believe Baze hadn't rsvped. "No. I don't know."

At Baze's, Baze is pacing back and forth through the loft. He was so confused about Cate's wedding. He didn't know what to do.

"I mean, it's not that hard. Go or don't go. It can't be that hard to click a button? Right!" Baze asks Math, in confusion and panic.

"No, it's not hard. Baze, why are you stressing out about this?"

"I don't know, man. I don't know! I have to go. I want to see my girls walk down the aisle! Ah, I don't know, man. I'm losing it!"

Math looks at him, kinda scared. "Yeah, you think?"

Lux knocks on their door then makes her way in. Baze turns around and looks at her. "Hey, what are you doing here? Is Lauren okay!"

"She's fine, she's fine. I wanted to talk to you."

Baze looks over at Math. "I'm out of here." He says leaving the room.

"Alright. Let's sit." Lux follows Baze to the couch and sits next to him. "Um, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, still trying to get over the fact that Cate and Ryan have two hundred people going to the wedding." Lux tells him.

Baze looks surprise. "Two hundred people? I didn't even know she knew that many people."

Lux laughs. "Yeah, me either. But that's not what I came here to talk about." Baze looks at her in all seriousness, waiting for Lux to go on. "How long has it been?"

Baze glares at Lux, confused. "How long has what been?"

"Since you've had feelings for Cate?"

Baze starts laughing, but when he sees Lux was not amused he stops. "Uh, I thought if I gave it time..the feelings would go away. But I don't know if I want the feelings to go away." Lux nods her head slowing, trying to take in what Baze is saying. Trying to understand all of it. "It finally feels like we are a family. All four of us. And it feels really good."

Lux smiles. "It feels good to me, too. Baze, I'm ready." Baze looks at her confused.

In Lauren's room, Lauren is still laying in bed, in the quite, when Cate walks in holding a tub of ice cream. Lauren looks up and sits up. Cate sits down next to her.

"What's this?" Lauren asks.

"Rocky Road." Cate says handing it and a spoon to her. "It's a metaphor. Just go with it. It'll help, I promise." Lauren takes the ice cream and opens it. She and Cate dig into it. "You know, I'm not completely sure what's got you so down, but if you're crawling right back into your bed, after school, it must be something pretty bad. I want to help, Lauren."

Lauren nods. "I know. But I'm not ready yet."

"I understand. But I'm here for you no matter what, okay? You can talk to me about anything."

"I know, Mom. Thanks." Cate puts her arm around Lauren and kisses her gently on her forehead. "I remember when you were six, and you got the chicken pox. You would only eat ice cream, and you refused to sleep alone. I always had to sleep with you."

"Well, you did keep me from itching." Lauren laughs.

Cate smiles. "Yeah. If it wasn't for me you'd have chicken pox scars all over your face."

"Mom, when did you know that Ryan was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?"

Cate sighs and smiles. "The moment he touched my hand. I had chills just take over my body. I just knew. Oh, and the first time he met you. He was so good to you."

"Yeah, I remember. I was so scared of him at first."

"Yeah, but it wasn't long until you were falling for him, too."

Lauren sighs. "I sometimes still wish that you and Dad would be together." She laughs. "But Ryan is good to you. So, if that's who you want to spend the rest of your life with, then it's cool with me."

Cate pulls Lauren closer to her and kisses her again on her head. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

They stayed like that for another hour until Lux and Baze were downstairs calling for them.

In the living room, Baze and Lauren are sitting on the couch, Lux is sitting on the arm of the couch, and Cate is sitting on the coffee table in front of Lux.

Lux pulls out an envelope. "So, you know these papers we've been holding on to since our meeting with Fern?" She takes the papers out. "You told me to tell you when I was ready. For you to be my parents officially. And I am. I'm ready. Because of something I realized while I've been here, getting closer to Lauren and to you guys, is that I love you." She says with tears in her eyes. Cate, Baze, and Lauren were on the verge of tears, too.

Cate gets up and bring Lux into a hug. "I love you, too."

Lux smiles as she sits down on the couch and Cate sits next to her. Baze grabs Lauren and she sits on his lap as they all look at the adoption papers.

At school the next the day, Lux is walking to her locker when Jones runs up to her.

"Lux, wait!" Lux turns around. She was not ready for this.

"Uh, hey, Jones."

"I was trying to call you last night." He tells her.

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry. We had some family stuff going on."

"Well, I wanted to tell you that I like you, too, Lux. And I know you're not ready, but I'll be here when you are."

Jones and Lux smile at eachother as they both turn and go separate ways. Once again Lux didn't say anything. She didn't even know what she could say to that.

Outside, Lauren is about to walk into the school, when Jake runs up to her and kisses her hard, but passionately. He pulls away and looks at her one last time before walking away. Lauren didn't know how to react. She just stood there, frozen, trying to playback what just happened in her head. Lux goes outside and sees Lauren. She runs up to her, and shakes her to get her attention. Lauren looks at Lux.

"I have to tell you something!" They both say at the same time.


	13. You Could Be Happy

It was finally the day. The day they make Lux officially part of their family, and the day that Cate and Ryan get ready to be married. Everyone is excited, and then some not so much. Cate is in her room getting dressed, when Lux walks in. They both smile at eachother, excited for the events that were about to take place.

The courthouse, Cate and Lux run up the steps. Baze and Lauren turn around and smile at them. Lux smiles, and hugs Baze, then Baze hugs Cate, and Lux hugs Lauren. Lauren then takes Cate's hand, and Lux takes the other and Baze's. They all look at eachother one more time, then head inside.

"Today we come together, on this most special day. Today is a day to appreciate, and one to look back on and cherish. Your journey to get here hasn't been easy. The road has been long, and windy. It has been hard to see at times, impossible even. But now you stand here, before me, ready to make an everlasting commitment to yourselves, and to eachother. This is a day you'll celebrate. Today has been a long time coming." The judge says as the four of them stand in front of him. "I've been doing this for a long time. I've seen a lot of heartache and disappointment. Because prayers are rarely answered, and usually dreams are just dreams. But today, your dream becomes a reality." Lux smiles and nods towards Fern, who is standing off to the side. They both smile at eachother. "The state of Oregan finds that it is in the best interest of Lux Cassidy to have the rights of her biological parents reinstated. Lux, you are no longer a warrant of the state. Full permanent joint custody has been granted to Catherine Cassidy and Nathaniel Bazile. And Lauren Cassidy, you now have a sister." They all smile at eachother, happily. "Congratulations to you all. You're a family."

The judge dismisses the case, and the four of them smile, and cry, happy to finally be official. Cate hugs Lux, lovingly, as Baze does the same.

"Okay. Picture time." Fern says as she picks up the camera. They all get closer to eachother, and Cate and Baze hold hands behind eachother, as Lauren and Lux do the same but side by side. Cate and Baze smoosh the girls together, and they all smile for the picture.

Lux walks over to Fern. "Fern, thank you." She says gratefully.

Fern hands Lux the picture. "So you'll never forget this day." She tells her. Lux grabs the picture and smiles. She looks back up at Fern and then hugs her tightly.

Baze and Cate are watching when they notice they were still holding hands. They look at eachother embarassed and let go. Lauren looks at them, strangely. She'd never seen her parents hold hands before. Lux thanks Fern once last time, then turns around and runs into Cate and Baze's arms.

At the house, Cate, Baze, Lux, and Lauren are in the kitchen celebrating. Cate pops open a bottle of Mimosa and pours each of them a glass.

"Please don't tell anyone that this is the first thing we did as parents." Cate says.

Lauren laughs. "I think you've done worse."

"Or not as much as Baze has." Lux finishes.

"Yeah. A toast to bong lamps." Cate says handing them each a glass.

"You and Baze getting custody." Lux laughs.

"To illegal keg parties." Baze says specifically to Lux, who just rolls her eyes.

"To getting drunk!" Lauren shouts, laughing.

"And to break ups, breakdowns." Cate says.

"You and Baze getting along."

Cate nods and smiles towards Baze. "We are getting along. It's almost like I like you."

"That's a first." Lauren says.

"Alright. To the four of us." Cate says as they each cling eachother's glasses.

"To family." Lux says.

"Cheers." They all say before they drink.

And then when they were all finally getting along and enjoying eachother's company, Ryan walks in. "I got the rings." He says walking into the kitchen. "I talked to the minister, and the rehearsal is on for tonight at five." He tells them. "So, is it official? Legal? You're apart of the family?"

"Mhm." Lux says avoiding eye contact, as she looks at Baze, who looks very uncomfortable.

"I guess tomorrow's my turn, huh?"

Baze puts down his glass, and grabs his jacket. "Ya know, I was just about to get going."

"But, Dad, we haven't even ate yet." Lauren says, trying to stop him.

"I'll make it up to you guys, okay? I have to go take care of some things at the bar." He tells her as he kisses both Lux and Lauren on their foreheads.

Cate's phone rings. "Oh, it's my mom." She says answering. "Mom, what's up?" pause. "What?" pause. "Are you kidding me?" She groans walking into the dining room.

Ryan follows her. "What's wrong?"

"Abby got food poisoning." Cate tells him.

"The day before our wedding? Best days of our lives, right?" He says following Cate out of the room.

"You're really not going to say anything?" Lux asks Baze.

Baze picks the picture up, that they took at the courthouse and looks at it for a minute.

"Not going to say what?" Lauren asks, eagerly.

"About how you feel? You're just going to watch her get married tomorrow?" Lux asks, ignoring Lauren.

"I'm not going to watch anything." He tells her. "I'm going to steer clear of all things wedding."

"Dad, you have to come!"

Baze sighs. "I promise. Next time."

Lux smirks. "I don't think they'll be a next time, Baze."

"Look, I don't want to see it. I don't want to hear anything about it."

"So, that's the kind of family we're going to be?" Lux asks. "The kind that sits around, lying to eachother, because we can't say how we feel?"

"Listen, numero uno, that's every family." He says kissing them one last time before he walks away.

"Can someone please tell me what's going!" Lauren ask Lux.

Cate walks in still on the phone with Ryan behind her. "Mom, you can't be late. You're walking me down the aisle! Why is Abby making my wedding day all about her? She better be walking around with an IV drip.." Cate suddenly regrets saying that. She looks up at Ryan. "Wait. She is..oh my gosh. I have to go, Mom." Cate hangs up the phone. "What am I going to do? Everything is going all wrong already!"

The house phone rings, Lux runs to it. "I got it!" She yells.

"I guess just Lauren and Lux are going to walk. At least they'll be there."

Lux comes in worried. "Uh, Cate, your rehearsal dinner place just fell through."

"What? Why!"

"I don't know. Something about septic tanks, and needing water. I tuned out before I started gaging." Lux tells her, grossed out.

"Just great! Abby's sick, and now our rehearsal dinner is literally drowning in crap!" Cate starts to panic.

"Look we can figure this out." Ryan assures her. "We just need somewhere that can seat fifty people."

"What about Baze's?" Lux offers.

Baze is about to walk out the door until he hears his name. "Oh, no."

Lauren walks over to them. "Yeah, Dad, you have the space."

Baze hesitates. He had no real reason to say no. "It's Friday night, and it's a big night for the bar." He tries.

"Well, we'll be willing to cover your loses." Ryan tells him.

"Yeah, Ryan, I just don't think it's a great idea."

Cate walks up to him. "Baze, it is our only idea. So, unless there is some other reason you don't want to have our rehearsal dinner at your bar..."

Baze looks at Lux, who smirks at him. "Sure. Let's do it." He tells them, finally giving in.

Later that day, Baze is letting people come in to set up around his bar. Lux is standing there watching, as Baze gives her the "stink eye."

"Look, you can stop giving me the stink eye. I'm sorry I offered up your place. I think you shouldn't pretend that this wedding isn't happening. You can't avoid her." Baze starts walking away, as Lux follows him. "Come on. You have to tell her how you feel. What if she feels something to?"

Baze turns around. "If she did, she wouldn't be marrying Ryan." He tells her.

Baze's dad walks in surprising both Baze and Lux. "Hey!"

"Hey, Dad. Long time, no see."

"I can say the same. Hello, Lux."

"Hey, you know you're official, right?" Lux asks him. He looks at her, curiously. "Official Gramps."

"What?"

"Yeah, uh, we made it official." Baze explains. "We were reinstated as Lux's parents this morning."

"Well, I'm sure your mother will be very happy to hear that." Baze's dad says bitterly. Lux looks up at Baze who squeezes her shoulders.

Lauren runs downstairs just in time. "Lux, we have to go." Lauren sees that Baze's dad is there. "Oh, hey, Grandpa." She says awkwardley.

"Hello, Lauren."

"Dad, see you later?" Lauren kisses Baze on his cheek, then grabs Lux's hand and they run out.

"Look, Dad, I would have called you, but we wanted it to be kinda like just a family thing." Baze tells his dad.

"Right, right. Why would your mother and I be involved in that?" He says sarcastically.

"Cate's parents weren't invited either. Or her fiance. It was just the four of us. But I'm glad that you came down, Dad. Hi."

"I came to get the rent." He says bitterly.

"Okay, Dad, I'm sorry. But I haven't heard from you in awhile. If I hurt your feelings.."

"For my feelings to be hurt, I'd have to expect something different from you, but I don't." Baze turns away. "Things'll never change. You can mail me the rent." His dad tells him as he leaves.

Baze watches his dad leave. He was hurt by what his dad said, but he was right. Things haven't changed, but he did. He's better father, without his dad's help. And things were different.

At the church, Cate, Ryan, and Alice are trying to get Ryan's parents under control as they bicker about eachother. Lux and Lauren run in just in time.

"Sorry, sorry!" Lux yells. They both stop out of breath. Alice points to the front of the church. They both run to their spots.

"A little slower, girls. You're not running from the police." Alice yells.

Everyone gets into their spots. Cate looks a little lost, and her mother quickly takes notice.

"Honey, what's the matter? You look like you could use a box of wine."

Cate sighs. They both start walking towards the front. "I just want to get this over with." Cate tells her.

Cate walks up the steps and stands in front of Ryan.

"So, I'll begin by saying, 'We're gathered here today to witness a joyful union of Ryan Thomas and Cate Cassidy. As they commit their lives to eachother before God, before family, before friends.' And I believe we have a reading by Alice? Want to practice?" The minister asks.

"Sure!" She says, but Cate gives her a look and she declines. "I'm cool."

"Okay. So, after Alice's reading, I'll say a brief homilia, and then we will turn it over to you for your vows. And you opted to write your own?"

"Yeah." Ryan says. "We haven't written them yet, but we'll have them."

"Just writing anything down, it's just difficult because you want your vows to be beautiful, but the same time you want them to be realistic. You know, marriage, a lot of ups and downs." Cate tells him.

Lauren and Lux look at eachother confused. They weren't sure what Cate was trying to get at, or if she was just trying to tell herself that.

After the rehearsal, Cate and Ryan walk out the church.

"Okay, what is going on?" Ryan asks her.

Cate sighs. "Nothing. I don't know. What if you have cold feet about marrying me?"

Ryan laughs. "Is that what this is all about?" Cate nods. "I'm the guy you claim with the sweaty legs, remember? And my feet, they couldn't be warmer." He jokes. "After all we've been through together, do you really need me to explain that I'm not going anywhere?"

Cate just sighs and walks away.

In the limousine, everyone is drinking except for Lauren and Lux. Cate looked like she was just about already drunk.

"What is wrong with me?"

Her mom laughs. "What? Honey, no, I drink mine like that all the time."

Laverne pours her some more. "Do you think it's bad that I don't believe him?"

"Cate, you know he means it." Alice assures.

"Don't even try. She's hopeless."

"What? Mom!" Cate shouts.

"It's true. Honey, I've been married four times. I know what I'm talking about. People they don't change."

"Yeah, well, clearly." Cate says taking another sip of her wine.

Lauren looks at Lux. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on with Dad?" She whispers.

Lux sighs. "I'll tell you later. I really don't think now is a good time." She says looking over at Cate, who looks miserable.

"Well, I don't think later will be a good time either. It might be a little too late. I've seen Mom drunk before. It's not pretty." Lauren tells her.

Cate looks over at her daughters whispering. "Hey, what are you two whispering about?"

They both look at Cate like they've just been caught doing something wrong. "Nothing." Lux says, laughing. "We were just talking about the wedding, and how nervous Ryan must be."

"He looked nervous to you?" Cate says, panicing. "I knew it!"

"Mom, no, chill. It's just an expression." Lauren tells her.

"Well, it's a stupid expression!"

Lauren and Lux rolls their eyes and sit back. "I'll explain everything later." Lux tells her.

"And honey, we all know you're a commitmentphobe who eats her feelings, and doesn't believe in happy endings." Laverne tells her daughter. Lux could not believe what she just heard.

"We are headed to the rehearsal dinner. I have two hundred alcoholic related wedding favors, thanks to you. No, this wedding is happening." Cate tells her. "I mean I want this wedding to happen."

"If you did, you wouldn't be projecting."

Cate jumps up. "Oh, great. Here we go. Abby's not here, so you're going to take over as the crappy therapist."

"Lauren; Lux, back me up here. Cate, your daughters can see what's going on."

Lux decides to change the subject. She was not getting into this. "More champange?" She asks, as she pulls out a bottle.

Laverne takes it from her. "You're accusing Ryan of not wanting to marry you because it's too upsetting to face the truth."

"What truth?" Cate asks.

"That you're the one that doesn't want to marry him."

Cate looks away. She wasn't sure what to say to that. Lux and Lauren look at their mother scared of what was going on in her head. She wasn't saying anything back. Lux knew from the very beginning, she could see it, that Cate didn't really want to be with Ryan, but now she just had to try to get Cate to face it herself. And she needed to explain everything to Lauren so that she could get her on board and help.

At Baze's bar, Ryan takes Cate aside.

"Look, let's just forget about this whole thing. We'll figure it out, I swear, but right now let's just have fun, get married, and we'll deal with it after."

Lux pulls Baze aside. "She says she's projecting!"

"Who say's what?" Baze asks, confused.

"Laverne said that Cate's afraid that Ryan doesn't want to marry her, but really, deep down, Cate's not so sure that she wants to marry Ryan." Lux explains.

"Maybe we're the ones projecting." He tells her.

"Or maybe she's having doubts because of something else. Baze, what if you're the one that she's suppose to be with?"

Baze laughs. "Lux, that's not how Cate sees me. I am not that guy."

"Things have changed. You saw how she was a breakfast, and at the courthouse!"

"Yeah, she was caught up in the moment. We all were. It wasn't real." Baze tells her.

"But it could be. My reality was two more years in foster care, until I did something to change it. You can, too." Lux tells him, as he just stares at her, thinking.

While everyone is sitting at their rightful tables to eat, Lauren and Lux are at theirs. Lauren couldn't wait much longer, she needed to know.

"Lux, what is going on?" Lux gives her a 'not now' look. "I need to know. I can't wait till later."

Lux sighs. "Lauren.."

"I seen Mom and Dad holding hands at the courthouse today." Lauren blurts out. Lux looks at her in surprise.

"What? You did?"

"Yeah. That was the first time I've ever seen them really touch eachother. And it looked like they didn't even want to let go." Lauren tells her.

"I seen it, too." Lux admits.

"Then why didn't you say something? You've been running around, talking to Dad, what's going on?"

Lux turns so that she is facing Lauren, and looking in her eyes. "Baze has feelings for Cate."

Lauren's eyes widen. "What? Are you sure!" She shouts almost loud for everyone to hear.

"Shh!" Lux says putting her hand over Lauren's mouth. "Don't say anything!" Lauren nods.

"How do you know?" Lauren asks.

"Baze told me the other night at the loft. I just had a feeling, you know? Like I could tell everytime they looked at eachother, even if they were fighting, that something was there." Lux explains.

"Kinda how I could tell when I was little?" Lux looks confused. "They're my mom and dad. Do you think they'd really have sex just because? They had us. That means something. It meant something, Lux."

Lux knew Lauren was right. "Yeah, but Baze has sex with random girls all the time."

"True. But it had to be different with, Mom. I mean look at him." She says pointing over to Baze who is behind the bar staring at Cate from across the room. Lux smiles. "What are we going to do?"

Lux looks away, thinking. "I don't know. We'll have to talk to Cate."

They are soon interrupted by Laverne who taps her glass to get everyone's attention. "I'd like to make a toast. Even though according to Cate, I wasn't allowed to." Cate gives her mom a stern look, but Laverne continues on. "So, if I say anything inapproriate it's the Merlot talking." Everyone laughs. "I always thought Cate took after her father. Non-commital, skittish, a hint of a five o' clock shadown." She jokes. Everyone laughs, but Cate didn't seem amused.

Next Alice stands up. "I remember when Ryan first met Cate. I think he refered to her as a '5'2' inch sack of crazy." Everyone laughs. "Anyways, Cate made me promise not to talk about anything embarassing like the number of men she went through before Ryan. Oh, don't worry, I won't say how many, but it will blow. your. mind."

"I've known Cate since we were thirteen." Math tells them. "I remember giving her a vhs tape for her birthday." Baze, Lauren, and Lux start laughing. "Of a music video. You know that one with Paula Abdul and the Cat?" He says awkardly. Math starts singing and dancing to the song as everyone stares at him oddly and embarassed for him. "Can everyone hear me in the back?" He shouts.

"I always appreciated the wonderful, and deserving man, my son is, and Cate, he has found..someone." Ryan's mom says. Cate looks at Ryan, who just smiles. "I understand that age catches up with you, and you can't wait forever, so you settle." His smile quickly fades after that.

"To the bride and groom!" Alice says raising her glass towards Ryan and Cate, as does everyone else.

Lux and Lauren look sadly towards Baze, who is just sitting there staring at the floor. They weren't exactly sure how they were going to fix this, but they had to figure out something quick before tomorrow. But Cate wasn't looking so happy herself.

Baze couldn't take anymore of it. So, he went up to his loft, grabbed a beer, and went sit on the roof. He needed to think. He needed to get away from all of it. But he didn't know Cate was sitting out there herself, doing the same thing.

"Hey. You okay?" He asks her. "You left poor Ryan down there fending for himself."

"Was that me, or was that more of a roast than a toast?" She asks, making Baze laugh. "I don't know. Maybe it's a sign. You know, maybe my mom's right. I haven't grown up at all. I mean look at me. I'm outside, hiding out at my own rehearsal dinner. And I'm so scared to marry the guy I love. I haven't changed at all."

"Okay. I wanna make a toast." Baze says lifting up his beer bottle. "When Lux first showed up, back in our lives, and before Lauren was even born, I did not peg you to be mom material. I don't even think you peg yourself out to be mom material. You have stepped up in every way. You have changed yourself, Cate." Cate smiles, embarassingly. "And you've changed me. I think marriage is a really big deal, and I don't think you should do anything that you're not ready for."

Cate breathes out. "I'm ready." She tells him. "I'm the one that rushed for this whole thing to happen. I just didn't want anything to ruin it. And if I don't do this; I'll be letting down, Ryan. Lux, and Lauren." She says sadly. Baze shakes his head. "What?"

"Lux and Lauren, don't want you to marry, Ryan." Baze wasn't sure if he was suppose to tell her that or not, but he did. Cate looks at him confused. "They want us to be a family. The four of us. And you know what? So do..." Baze couldn't finish, as Ryan walks up.

"Really? You're stranding me down there? That does a lot of crazy for one room." Ryan tells her.

Cate smiles. "I'm sorry."

Baze walks passed them and over to his fridge. "You want a beer, man?"

"More like eight." He says taking the beer from Baze. "Everyone is about to head out, so we should probably say good-bye." He tells Cate. "Hey, Baze, thanks for hosting. I'm glad we're cool. All three of us." He says hitting Baze on his arm. Cate gives them a small smile. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Yeah, we're cool."

Ryan and Cate walk out of the loft, leaving Baze there drinking his beer and drowing his thoughts. He wasn't sure how to react to this whole thing. He almost told Cate how he feels! Baze walks back out to the roof and looks out to the city. He breathes in deep then out. He didn't know what do, but he knew he had to talk to her. Baze pulls out his phone and dials the familiar number. 'Hello. It's Cate. Leave a message.' "Uh, Cate, it's Baze. I need to talk to you before tomorrow. Call me back whenever. It doesn't matter how late." Baze hangs up and turns around. He sees Math staring at him. "What are you? Sneaking up on me?" He asks walking passed him.

"Why were you calling Cate?"

Baze stops. "I'm in love with her." He tells Math.

Math laughs. "Yeah, right." Baze turns around and by the look on his face, Math could tell he was serious. "No."

"I'm going to tell her how I feel."

"No. What are you trying to do? Stop the wedding?" Baze shrugs. "Then what? You guys get involved, what if you decide you made a huge mistake?"

"I don't know. Maybe I won't."

"So, you tank her wedding for 'I don't know. Maybe you won't'?" Math asks him.

"If I wanted a lecture. I could call my dad. I could hear all about how I'm not good enough, how I'm a screw up, and how I haven't changed."

Math sighs, and sits next to him. "I'm not saying that. But look unless you're ready to commit, and offer more than what Ryan has. She loves Ryan, she wants to marry Ryan." Baze sighs. He knew Math was right. "If you really love her, the best thing you could do is let her be happy. Otherwise, your dad is right. You haven't changed at all." Baze nods his head, sadly.

At Cate's, Lauren and Lux are sitting in Lauren's room, on her bed, talking, when Cate knocks.

"Lauren; Lux, can I talk you guys for second?" Cate asks as she walks in.

"Yeah, sure." Lux tells her.

Cate walks up to them. "Did you two tell Baze that you didn't want me to marry Ryan?"

Lauren and Lux look at eachother. "No." They both tell her.

"Well, Baze said that you did."

"Mom, that's not what we said. You know how much we love Ryan."

"Mhm."

"All we said was that Baze should be honest with you." Lux tells her. "Baze is the one that doesn't want you to marry Ryan. He has feelings for you, Cate."

Cate smiles and shakes her head. She couldn't believe Lux was telling her this. "No, Lux, that was just a stupid excuse he gave to Abby."

"No! He told me before I gave you guys the adoption papers!"

Cate shakes her head. "I can't do this." She says walking out of Lauren's room.

"Mom!" Lauren yells as she and Lux run after her. "Wait!"

"I don't want to talk about this!" Cate says going into her room. "I want to wake up in the morning, and marry Ryan. I'm sorry." Cate tells them as she tries to close the door, but Lux stops it.

"You and Baze slept together three times, Cate. That means something."

"And we saw you guys hold hands at the courthouse!" Lauren shouts.

"Lauren, we were just caught up in the moment. We all were!"

"You spend all your time thinking about, ignoring it! If you would just admit it!"

"What would you like me to admit, Lux!" Cate yells.

"That deep down, you're having doubts about Ryan because you know that you're meant to be with Baze!"

"Baze and I are not meant to be together!"

"Mom.."

"Lauren, I know you've always wanted me and your dad to be together ever since you were little, but it's not going to happen. I know you both have some kind of fantasy to have your parents together, but get use to Ryan."

"Me finding you and Baze that was a fantasy! And us acting like a family this morning, that was a fantasy, too, and if those fantasies can come true, then why can't this one!" Lux asks her.

Cate was on the verge of tears. She couldn't stand there in front of her girls and watch them pretty much beg for her to be with their dad. She loves Ryan. Cate closes her bedroom door. Lauren and Lux stare at it. They weren't sure what else to do. It was official, Cate was going to marry Ryan. No matter what they did or said.

"What do we do now?" Lauren asks Lux.

Lux shrugs. "We go to sleep." Lux tells her as she walks away to her own bedroom.

Cate is leaning against her door, listening Lauren and Lux talk. She sighs in frustration. Cate felt like she had to say those things to convince them, but she couldn't quite convince herself.

Baze is sitting outside on the roof, drinking a beer. He just kept playing over and over what Math said to him. He couldn't ruin things for Cate, or for his daughters. Having Ryan in their lives might be the best thing for them. But at Cate's, Cate couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning in bed. Lauren and Lux were doing the same. All they wanted was a real family. Ryan would only be their step-dad, not their father. Lux takes the picture, that they took at the courthouse, from underneath her pillow and she looks at it. For that one short second they looked like a real family. A real; happy family. Lux hears the front door open, and so she gets out of bed. Cate closes the door and locks it, then she walks away, as Lux runs downstairs from her room and over to the window. Lauren is at her window, too, as they both watch Cate get into her car and leave. They both smile, knowing exactly where Cate was going.

At Baze's, Cate knocks lightly on the outside door of the roof.

"Hey." She says peaking in. Baze sits up.

"Hey, Cate, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." He tells her.

Cate laughs. "Yeah, I know. I couldn't sleep. I got your message. Look I just really need to know what's going on because you're telling me one thing, and then Lux and Lauren are telling me another thing. And I'm just so confused on what everyone is feeling. I have no idea what I'm feeling anymore. Are you in love with me?"

Baze wasn't quite sure if he heard her right. "What?"

"Look, I just don't want to be in denial anymore, and I don't want to talk myself out of something that is really happening. Because I felt something this morning." Baze sits down, rubbing his forehead. This was a lot for one day. "And if I'm being honest I felt it before this morning." Baze looks at her, surprised. "Since the moment you came back into my life, I have felt it. And I have tried to convine myself that it is wrong. Even when Lauren was little and begging me to be with you. I'd tell myself it's just wrong. That we just messed up; twice. Well, three times. I've tried to explain it away, like if I act like it's not real, then it won't be. But since Lux came back, I can't fight it anymore. I just don't know, Baze. What if it is! What if there is a part of me that is in love with you, too!"

Baze sits there, contemplating on what to say back to that. If his decision is the right thing to do or not. He sat there thinking about this daughters, thinking about his life. About Cate's life in that short little second. "Cate, I'm sorry. There is no too." Cate looks at him, confused, but relieved at the same time, but also pissed that she let this get this far. "I don't know what Lux has been telling you, but I'm not in love with you." He says trying not to look her in the eyes. He didn't want to see her hurt. To know that he's the one that hurt her. Again.

Cate chokes back her tears, and nods her head, then walks away. She had nothing to say back to that. It was done. Baze could kick himself in the back if he could. She was being honest with him, and he didn't have the decency to be honest back.

At the church, Laverne, Alice, Lux, and Lauren are standing outside Cate's dressing room. Laverne is banging on the door.

"What is going on?" Alice asks.

"She send us out to get ice, and now she won't let us back in." Laverne tells her.

"What! Cate!"

"Yes, and now the champagne is just sitting in there, not getting cold!" Laverne yells towards the door.

Lux rolls her eyes as she texts on her phone. "Are you texting him?" Lauren asks her. Lux just nods and continues on her phone. "What's he saying?"

"Honey, if this is about what I said in the limo, I'm sorry!"

"I don't think that's it." Lux says, as she still looks at her phone. Laverne and Alice both look at her.

Alice walks up to her. "If you and your dimples know something, now is the time to spill it."

Lux fakes a phone call, and runs out of the hall. They look at Lauren who just laughs and shrugs, acting like she has no idea what's going on.

At the golf course, Baze sees his dad walking so he goes up to him. Baze looks like he hadn't slept all night, or even showered. He looked a mess.

"Dad, I need to talk to you."

His dad laughs. "Not here you don't. Go home. You're embarassing yourself."

"I'm embarassing you?"

"Keep your voice down."

"What? This is what you do, Dad. You just show up, it doesn't matter who's around. You make me feel like a failure, and then you leave." Baze tells him.

"Nate, I'm not going to tell you this again. This is not the time or place for this. You go home and you clean yourself up."

Baze steps in front of his dad. "No. Not until you hear what I have to say."

"What's that? You're going to blame me again? You're going to tell me that it's my fault that you didn't even think to call me or your mother? That I haven't heard from you in a month?" He yells.

"It is your fault!" Baze shouts back at him. "It is all your fault! You are the reason that I can't step up! You are the reason that I am afraid to commit! You are the reason that I have nothing to offer her!"

"Her? What the hell are you talking about?"

Baze looks away. "You know it's no wonder that I don't feel good enough. It's no wonder that I can't tell her that I love her? It's because I have never heard it from the one person that I am suppose to hear it from. Yesterday, I got to give my kid something that she's always wanted. A dad. I'm still waiting for mine." Baze says bitterly as he walks away from his dad.

At the church, Lux walks outside still trying to get a hold of Baze.

'Hey, it's Baze. Do your thing.' "Where are you? I don't know what happened last night, but Cate won't talk to anyone. You have to call me as soon as you get this! I'm at the church." She says, hanging up her phone. She reached the side door to the church, as Ryan walks out.

"Whoa. Slow down. You okay?" He asks.

"Uh, yeah. I just need to get back inside." She says trying to walk away from him. It had been awkward being around him since she found out that Baze has feelings for Cate. It was just too weird.

"This is new." He tells her. Lux stops and turns back around.

"What?"

"This whole cold shoulder thing you've been having since yesterday. Did I do something to upset you?"

"No." Lux was starting to feel really bad treating Ryan the way she was treating him."Ryan, I'm sorry. It's not you, it's just, it's everything. It's Baze. It's Cate."

Ryan looks confused. "What about Baze and Cate?"

"No. It's not just them. It's this. All of this. Barely one thing happens and we're already on to the next."

Ryan starts to feel guilty. "Yeah, yesterday, your hearing. That was a big deal for the four of you."

"Yeah. It was." She says walking around him and sits on the railing. "No matter how old we get, or how wrong for eachother they are. We all want our parents to be together. I've been in Lauren's life since she was nine, and everyday since that day, I always knew that she didn't want me with her mom. She wanted her dad to be with her mom. You know, it's a fantasy. It's a naive, little kid, fantasy. I have it, still, my parents have been divorced forever. So maybe you do, too." He tells her. But Lux turns away. She couldn't let him see that, he was right, but that wasn't all that it was. "Lux, it's okay. You spend so much time taking care of everyone. Being a parent. Wanting them together, maybe that means for the first time, you've learned to be the kid. Their kid." Ryan looks away from Lux. Yeah, he was upset that Baze had two daughters with Cate. He felt sort of jealous, even though he, too, watched Lauren grow up for such a little time, nothing and no one compared to their dad. To Baze. And now that Lux is in his life, too. He now had to watch her grow into a young woman. But that's all he could do, is watch. "You guys are a family, whether Cate and I get married or not. All I want is to be apart of it. Uh, look, if this is all too much for you, we can wait. We can postpone it, because if you're not ready, then neither am I."

"Shouldn't you talk to Cate?" Lux asks him.

"If this is what you want. If this is what you and Lauren both want, then she should probably hear it from her daughters." Ryan tells her.

Lux stands up, looking at Ryan one last time. She could see the hurt, and confusion in Ryan's eyes. She walk away to find Lauren and to talk to Cate.

In Cate's dressing room, Cate is sitting on the couch, writing her vows. Lux knocks on the door, then she and Lauren make their way in. Cate looks up and smiles at them.

"Hey."

"Hey." Lux says for the both of them. "You okay?"

Cate shakes her head. "No. I'm not okay at all." Lauren and Lux walk over to Cate and sit down side by side in front of her. "Are you two okay?" Lux had just told Lauren about what Ryan said. She never knew Ryan felt that way, and she felt so guilty for making him feel like that. Cate could tell that they both had been crying, and it was making her worry.

"No." Lauren tells her. "We're definitely not okay."

Cate sits there watching them. She could tell they were thinking. They always had the same look when they were thinking. She definitely loved that about them. Lux looks up at her. "You told Baze to be honest with you, and we want to be, too." Lux tells her.

"I wouldn't be putting Baze and honesty in the same sentence." She tells them. They look at her, confused. "I went over there last night. He doesn't love me."

"No, that's not true!" Lauren tells her. She was getting upset all over again.

Cate grabs Lauren's hand. "Well, that's what he told me."

"Cate, he does! He told me. I know he does."

"Lux, he doesn't. You know it's not my problem what Baze feels, or what he doesn't feel. My problem, it's me. My problem, is always me. I mean how am I suppose to be marrying Ryan when some part of me, some sick and twisted part of me, has feelings for guy who doesn't even have the guts to admit that he loves me back?" Cate says, frustrated with this whole situation.

"You're not twisted." Lux tells her. "You're just, like me. Holding on to a fantasy that doesn't exist. You went to him last night for answers, and you got them. Baze didn't tell you that he loved you. He told you all that you needed to know. And you don't have to beat yourself up over some microscopic feeling that's been there way before Ryan. Way before me and Lauren. It's not having feelings for two people that matters, it's what you choose to do about them."

Lauren sighs and looks over at Lux then back at her mom. "Mom, I'm the last person who wants to say this, but Dad is never going to be the guy that you want him to be. I should have seen it all these years. When I was four and begging for you to be with him. He's never going to change. And thinking that he is, well, that's a fantasy. Like me wishing you and dad would get married, and the four of us would finally live happily ever after." Lauren says, laughing. Cate and Lux smile at her, both knowing exactly how she feels.

"We want something that is real, and we know you do, too." Lux tells Cate. "And what you have with Ryan, is real."

Cate sits up. "Come here." She kisses both Lauren and Lux on their cheeks. "Thank you." She tells them as she hugs them both tightly.

At the bar, Baze is fixing up his tables when his dad walks in.

"Hey, I want to talk to you."

"No. No more talking. We're done." Baze goes to walk away but his dad stops him.

"Hey, no, wait!" He shouts.

"No, there is nothing that you are going to say that is going to fix things between us."

"I don't know. I don't know why I'd rather put you down, than tell you I miss you. I don't know why I yell at you." His dad says walking towards him. "For not being in my life, instead of admitting that I don't know how to be in yours. I need to start accepting that you are not me, and so do you." They stand there in silence for awhile, both taking in what was just said. Trying to put words around it to better understand. "I love you." His dad finally says. Baze sighs. "I love you. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Don't let what I said, or haven't said, keep you from what you want." Baze was too chocked up to talk back. Just hearing those words, felt so good, felt right. It was something he was longing for, for a long time. "Don't wait until it's too late to say it. If you love Cate, tell her."

At the church; Ryan is walking his parents down the aisle.

Baze runs out of his bar and to his truck. He gets in and takes off.

The doors finally open, and Lux and Lauren walk down the aisle together. Ryan smile, lovingly, at his soon to be step-daughters. His daughters.

Baze is sitting in his truck, stuck in traffic. He was getting really antsy. He just knew he'd be late.

The doors finally open again, one last time, and Cate, holding on to her mom's hand, walks down the aisle, slowly, and proudly. Ryan, Lux, and Lauren, smile happily, and thankful that this day had finally come. Cate hugs her mom, then she hugs Lauren and Lux, and then she goes up those steps and stands in front of her soon-to-be husband...

The doors fly open once more, and Baze runs through.

...maybe. 


	14. Love, Save The Empty

It's morning, and Cate is still in her bedroom, laying in bed thinking back on the events that happened that previous day. She never expected things to go like that. Baze told her he didn't love her. Why couldn't he just stay away, and let her get married in peace? Cate had already had her mind made up. After talking to Lauren and Lux; she had her mind made up. Why did things always have to be screwed up?

Outside her door; Lauren and Lux are sitting on the floor, leaning against the walls.

"She's never going to come out." Lauren tells Lux.

Lux breathes out slowly. "Yes, she will. She can't stay in her room forever. She has to face what happened because it's never going away."

"You know, I did mean what I said to her yesterday about Dad never changing, but what if I was wrong? He interrupted the wedding to tell her that he loves her. Maybe I was wrong." Lauren says.

Lux gives her a small smile. "Yeah. Maybe you were wrong. But look at her now. She's stuck in her bedroom. Cate's confused and I don't blame her." Lux stands up, and reaches for Lauren's hand. "Come on. We have to go to school."

"Lux, we can't just leave her!"

Lux looks at the closed door. "She'll be fine. Something tells me she'll still be here when we get back." Lux tells her as she walks away.

Lauren stares at the door, sadly. She knew there was nothing they could do right now, so she had to live her life.

Cate turns over on her side. She looks at the picture of her and Ryan on her nightstand. She reaches over and puts it down. If only she could turn back time.

At school; Lauren and Lux are walking to the quad. Lauren stops walking when she sees Jake. Lux looks at what Lauren is looking at and smiles.

"Just go talk to him. You can't avoid him forever. He tutors you." Lux tells her.

Lauren looked like she was about to throw up. "I don't know what to say to him. We haven't talked since he kissed me."

"Well, now's your chance." Lux says pushing her forward. Lauren stumbles, still staring at Jake who is around his friends.

"No, I can't do this." She says walking away as fast as she could.

Lux rolls her eyes, and turns to walk away but she sees Jones and instead walks up to him.

"Hey."

Jones turns around and smiles at her. "Hey, yourself. How was the wedding?"

"Oh. A disaster." Lux grimaces.

Jones looks at her confused. "What do you mean?"

They start walking inside the school building. "Well, Baze loves Cate, Cate loves Ryan and Baze, Baze runs into the church in the middle of the vows. Hence why it was a disaster." She says opening her locker.

"So, who did your mom marry?"

Lux closes her locker and looks at him. "No one." She says as she starts walking away. Jones looked very confused as he runs after her.

"Hold on. What do you mean no one? She didn't choose Ryan or Baze?"

Lux shakes her head. "Nope. And now she is stuck in her room. She doesn't want to speak to anyone and me and Lauren have no idea what to do."

"Wow." Jone says. After the few minutes of silence, as they walk to their class, Jones looks at Lux and smiles. "So, about the other day."

Lux laughs and looks up at him. "Yeah, about the other day."

"I'm sorry I just sprung that on you and then walked away. I just got nervous and didn't know what else to say." He explains.

"No, it's cool. I understand. I don't think I would have had anything to say either. But I'm still not ready yet." She reminds him.

Jones smiles. "Yeah, I know. But I'm here when you are, okay?"

"Okay." Lux laughs.

Jones smiles at her one last time before he walks away.

In the library; Lauren was both excited and nervous to see Jake. She couldn't even walk up to him earlier, so she wasn't even sure how she was going to react once she had to sit next to him. Lauren stops when she sees Jake sitting at their table. He looked so cute. She almost wanted to run up to him and kiss him again, but she held her composure. Lauren takes a deep breath and walks over to him. She puts her bag on the table and sits down.

"Hello, Jake." She says confidently.

Jake looks at her. "Oh, hey, Lauren." He opens his math book and takes out a few papers. "So, I've been looking over your past few test and notice something pretty strange. Your numbers are all mixed up. I mean it looks like you know the concept of the problem, but you're just not getting the right numbers in the right place. So, I looked it up, and I think you may be dyslexic."

Lauren looks at the papers Jake is holding in front of her then up at him, in disbelief. "Seriously?" She says annoyed.

Jake shakes his head. "Yeah, I've looked it up, and.."

"No." She says, interrupting him. "I mean seriously is this how you're going to talk to me?"

Jake looks at her confused. "What do you mean? I'm tutoring you." Lauren starts packing her things up. "Where are you going?"

"All your worried about is stupid tutoring."

"Well, that's kinda the point, right?"

Lauren rolls her eyes. "No, the point is you kissed me, and now you're acting like nothing happened!" She yells. "Look I don't know what you want from me, but being played is not one of them. I'm asking for a new tutor." She says before she walks away.

Jake watches Lauren leave. He felt bad. He had a lot to say, but he didn't know how to put it. He really liked Lauren, and the kiss was amazing, but she's thirteen and he's sixteen. Jake didn't know how to handle this.

At the house; Cate just got of bed, still in her pajamas, and she is walking around the house, sulking. Cate walks into the dining room and looks at pictures of her and Ryan, then her, Ryan, and the girls on the bookshelf. She sighs and grabs all the picture frames then she walks into the kitchen and puts them in a drawer. She slams it shut and takes a deep breath. Cate didn't know how to handle this. She figured she'd have a husband today, but of course nothing ever went her way. Things always got screwed up. Cate tries to start cleaning up the kitchen, but her emotions got the best of her. Cate throws down the dishes and falls to the ground in tears. She was so confused, and so pissed off.

At Baze's; Baze is sitting outside on the roof; drinking a beer. Math walks out over to him.

"Hey, man."

Baze looks at him. "Hey. Why are you back early?"

"I came to check up on you. See how you're doing." Math tells him.

Baze takes another sip of his beer. "I'm just great, Math. Just great." He says sarcastically. "You know I run into that church to stop the woman I love from marrying another guy, and she just walks away. So, yeah, I'm great!"

"Dude, just give it some time, okay? Cate is probably having a hard time with this, too. She wasn't expecting you to stop the wedding, Baze. I mean, have you even tried talking to her? Huh?" Math asks.

"She doesn't want to talk to me, man."

"How do you know? Did you try calling her?"

"Actually, yeah, I did. She's not answering my calls. I did a stupid thing, man. I ruin her life, and I ruined Lauren and Lux's. Not to mention, I look like an idiot now, too! I'm never going to be able to fix this.."

Math walks closer to him. "Of course you're not going to be able fix this, Baze. You can't fix anything if you're sitting outside, on your roof, on your ass, drinking beers, and not doing anything about it! Yeah, you're not going to be able to fix it! It's time to grow up and be who you have to be for your daughters! Even if it means not being with Cate! So, I hope you're at that school by the time three o'clock comes because Lux and Lauren, they need their Dad." Math tells him as he walks away.

Baze sighs as he takes another sip of his beer. Thinking about what Math just told him, Baze stands up and throws his beer against the wall. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be like his dad!

At school; Lauren slams her locker shut. Lux walks up to her confused.

"What is going on? Why are you pissed off at your locker?" She asks.

Lauren rolls her eyes. They start walking down the hall. "Well, I talked to Jake, and all he wanted to talk about was my dyslexia."

Lux stops walks and stops Lauren. "Wait, what! Dyslexia?"

"Yeah, he thinks I'm dyslexic when it comes to math, but that's not the point. He couldn't even talk to me about the kiss. He just sat there like we didn't even do anything. So, I told him I wanted a new tutor."

"What? Lauren, you can't just get a new tutor like that. I mean, he was trying to do the right thing and tutor you since you guys were in tutoring session."

"Do not take up for him."

They start walking again. "I'm not taking up for him. I'm just saying. He's just trying to help you. You need to tell Cate and Baze about your learning disability."

Lauren shakes her head. "No way! That's the last thing on my mind right now and I'm pretty sure that's the last thing on Mom or Dad's mind."

"You can't just hide it from them. They'll understand better knowing why you've had so much trouble in math." Lux tells her.

Lauren stops at the bulletin board in the hallway. She sees a flyer out for the soccer team. "Oh my gosh! Finally!"

"What?" Lux asks, confused.

"Soccer tryouts." Lauren signs her name on the signature list. "Perfect thing to get my mind off of everything." She says excitingly. Lux rolls her eyes as she follows Lauren back down the hallway, who is practically skipping out the door.

When they go outside Lauren stops as Lux runs into her. "What are you doing?" She asks, annoyed, as she looks up towards the direction Lauren is looking and she sees Baze parked out in front. "Dad's here!"

"Well, at least he can get out of the house." Lux says as they walk towards him.

"Dad!" Lauren yells.

"Hey, kiddo!" Baze laughs, as Lauren jumps into his arms, hugging him tightly. "I'm glad you came!"

"Don't I always pick you up from school?" He asks her.

Lauren shrugs. "I'm just surprised that's all."

They all get in the truck. Lux sniffs the Baze. "Ugh. You smell like beer."

"You're drunk!" Lauren shouts.

"No, I'm not drunk. I sobered up before I came. Don't worry." He tells them.

"So, Dad, guess what!" Lauren says jumping up from her seat.

"What?" Baze laughs.

"Soccer tryouts are tomorrow!"

"What? Yes! You know you're going to make it!" He says as they bump fist. Lux looks at them, weirdly.

"I know! I'm just so happy it's finally here! I missed it."

"Lauren has dyslexia." Lux blurts out. Lauren was fuming. She could not believe Lux just told Baze that. Baze looks at them, confused.

"Dyslexia? What are you talking about?"

Lauren sits back in her seat. "It's nothing."

Lux rolls her eyes. "She's dyslexic in math, Baze. Lauren wasn't going to tell you."

"Why weren't you going to tell me?"

Lauren rolls her eyes. They pull up at the house. "Oh, look, we're home." Lauren says sarcastically as she gets out and walks towards the house. Baze and Lux hurry and follow her inside. Cate is sitting on the couch when she hears the commotion as they walk in. She stands up watching, concerned when she sees that they are fighting.

"I told you not to say anything and you did! It's not a big deal!" Lauren yells.

"Yes, it is!" Baze yells back.

"What isn't a big deal?" Cate asks them.

They all look at her, finally noticing she was there. "It's nothing." Lauren says going to walk away but Baze grabs her arm. "Let go of me!" She yells pulling her arm back.

Cate walks up to her, with worry in her eyes. She never seen Lauren yell at Baze before. "What is going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Lauren yells as she runs upstairs to her room.

Cate and Baze look over at Lux. Lux sighs. "Look, when she went to tutoring today she was told she could be dyslexic in math from the same guy that she likes and kissed her the other day, but who is now ignoring the fact that he did it."

"Wait she likes her tutor?" Baze asks. Lux nods her head.

"She's dyslexic?" Cate asks. Lux nods her head again.

"I'm not even sure if she's more upset that she's dyslexic or about the guy, but I thought it was right for you guys to know."

"Yeah, thanks, Lux." Cate says.

Lux noticed the awkward tension between Cate and Baze so she decides to excuse herself. "I'm just going to leave you two alone." She says walking to her room.

Baze wasn't quite sure what to say, and neither did Cate, so they just stood there silently for a few minutes.

"Well, I better go." Baze says.

"Yeah, I better go talk to Lauren."

Baze gives Cate a small smile before he lets himself out. Cate stares at where Baze just left from. This was all just weird, she thought. Cate decided that she needed to deal with her kids first, so she makes her way towards Lauren's room. She could hear her music blaring. And that usually only happened when Lauren was really angry. Cate figured what's the point in knocking if she couldn't hear her, so Cate makes her way into Lauren's room. When she opens the door, she sees Lauren digging around in her closet. Cate walks over to the stereo and she turns down the music.

"What are you doing?" She asks Lauren.

"I'm trying to find my soccer gear. Tryouts start tomorrow." Lauren tells her.

"Really? Well, that's good! I know how much you missed it." Cate says, but Lauren just continues to dig around. "Honey, can you come over here for a second. I want to talk to you."

"If it's about school I don't want to talk about it." Lauren tells her.

Cate rolls her eyes. "Come. Sit. Now." She says sternly. Lauren breathes heavily as she does what her mother says. Lauren sits next to Cate, annoyed, and waiting for her mom to say whatever she had to say. "So, you like your tutor, huh?"

Lauren rolls her eyes. "Lux has a big mouth."

"No, she is just worried about you, Lauren. When did he kiss you?"

"The other day. It's no big deal. I'm asking for a new tutor tomorrow." Lauren tells her.

"Lauren, it is a big deal. If he is upsetting you this much, it is a big deal. No guy should be getting you this upset."

"Like I'd be taking advice from you." Lauren says bitterly. Cate looks at her confused. "Says the woman who's been stuck in bed. You have two guys wanting you, Lux has a guy who is begging for her, and my guy, well, my guy is ignoring me!" Lauren gets up and walks back over to her closet.

Cate was not expecting that outburst, and she wasn't sure what to say. "Lauren, my situation is totally different from yours! You are thirteen!"

"You don't think I know that!" Lauren yells, angrily. "I'm constantly reminded about that every single day of my life. I'm too young for everything! Well, if I'm such a burden on everyone then you should have given me up, too! Maybe if you would have done that, then you wouldn't have Dad in your life, and it would have been easier for you to marry Ryan!"

Cate was shocked. She never meant for Lauren to blame herself for all of this. Cate walks closer to her. "Lauren.."

Lauren turns away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She says walking into her bathroom and slamming the door in Cate's face.

Cate sighs and turns away. When she walks out she sees Lux leaning against the wall.

"You were listening?"

Lux nods her head. "Yeah. She's just upset, Cate."

"I didn't know she was blaming herself. Did you?"

They go downstairs to the living room and sit down. "No, but she doesn't say much about what's she's thinking. Obviously this guy is really getting to her."

"I'm such a bad mother. I was sitting here worrying about my problems, and not even paying attention to Lauren's."

"Cate, you have every right to worry about your problems. You were about to get married, then Baze ruined it. That's a big deal." Cate sighs. "Have you talked to Ryan?"

Cate shakes her head. "No. But he has called. I just don't have the guts to answer it."

"What about Baze? That had to be awkward earlier."

Cate laughs. "Yeah. It's easy to avoid Ryan, but impossible to avoid Baze. He's yours and Lauren's father. He's in my life no matter what."

Lux wasn't sure if she should bring it up or not, but she had to know. She needed to know. "Cate, do you love Baze? Is that why you didn't marry Ryan?"

Cate looks at Lux, and sighs. "I didn't marry Ryan because it's not how I wanted it to be. I think we rushed it."

"You didn't answer my question. Do you love Baze?" Lux asks again.

Cate shrugs. "I don't know, Lux. I don't know anything anymore."

Lux watches Cate walk away. She knew Cate did know. She just didn't want to admit it to herself, like always. Lux's phone goes off, and she sees she got a text message. She smiles when she sees that it's Jones texting her. He asks her to go eat pizza. Lux thought about it for second before realizing it was better than being in this house with two pissed off people.

Lux walks into the foyer and grabs her jacket. "Cate, I'm going get pizza with Jones!" She yells.

"Do you need money!" Cate yells back.

"No! I'll be back at nine! Later!" Lux says as she heads out the door.

At Baze's; Baze and Math are playing video games.

"So, you didn't say anything? You just left?" Math asks him.

"Dude, what did you want me to say? It was too awkward."

"I don't know. Maybe talk about Lauren, or talk to Lauren together! That's the point of being parents." Math says in an obvious tone.

Baze rolls his eyes. "I know how to be a parent, but Lauren was just mean, Cate knows how to handle her when she gets that way. I don't." Math pauses the game and puts down the contoller. Baze looks at him, confused. "Man, what are you doing? I was so about to win!"

"Okay, I can't believe I'm about to help you try to talk to Cate, but I have an idea." Baze looks at him curiously. "Okay. Since we don't know for sure that Lauren is dyslexic or not, we will have to test her. So, to do that, you will need to talk to Cate and ask her about it, then you and her will have to both go to the school with Lauren. And while you guys wait, you'll have no choice but to talk." He explains.

Baze looks at him and smiles. "Math, my friend, you are a genius. Now that's why you're the teacher." Baze jumps up and grabs the phone. "I'm going to call Cate right now."

"Hello?" Cate answers. Baze was a little surprised that she even answered the phone.

"Uh, Cate. It's me, Baze."

Cate tenses up. She knew she shouldn't have answered it. "Uh, yeah, what do you want?"

"Well, Math here was explaining to me about Lauren's situation."

"Yeah, what about her situation? I don't think Math can really give you advice on Lauren's boy problems." Cate spats.

Baze rolls his eyes. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. "No, Cate. I'm talking about her dyslexia."

"We don't even know if that's true, Baze. She was told by a kid."

"Yeah, I know. But Math said that the school can test her. All we have to do is show up with her and we'll find out."

Cate thinks for a second. She knew if she didn't do anything about it Lauren probably wouldn't have a chance at passing. "Um, alright. So, what do we have to do?"

"Math is going to set up everything up for tomorrow." Baze tells her.

"Fine. See you tomorrow." Cate says hanging up.

Baze turns around and smiles. "We're on."

At the pizza parlor; Jones and Lux are at a table.

"So, why'd you invite me?" Lux asks him.

Jones looks at her in all serious. "I wanted pizza, and I can't eat a whole one by myself."

Lux laughs. "I'm serious."

"Me too. And I thought you'd want some time out of your house. I mean considering with everything that is going on."

Lux smiles. "Oh, yeah. It's crazy."

"Perfect."

"Hey, do you know Jake Philips?"

"Yeah. Wait, don't tell me you like him, too." Jones jokes.

Lux rolls her eyes and laughs. "No! Lauren does."

"Lauren?" He asks, confused. "But she's thirteen."

"Uh, yeah, I know. But apparently Jake likes her, too. He's her tutor, ya know."

"Really? That's weird."

"Yeah. What do you know about him?" She asks.

Jones thinks for a second. "Well, I know he moved from California a couple years ago. He's a pretty killer guitar player, and as far as I know he's harmless. Unless he did something to Lauren." Jones asks, worriedly.

Lux shakes her head. "No. Just crushed her heart."

"What happened?"

"He kissed her, but now he won't talk to her about it. I'm not sure if Lauren is just overreacting because she's pretty dramatic like that, but she's pretty bummed about it."

"From what I can tell, Lauren is strong. She'll come out of it. Just like her sister." He says smiling at Lux.

Lux starts blushing. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"It's easy. I'm a nice guy." Lux gives him a look. "Because Lux, you deserve it. Not everyone in your life has to be mean to you. Plus, I like you. Shouldn't that count for something?" He asks.

Lux just smiles at him. Bug was never this nice to her. She didn't understand it. Jones is incredible, but she just wished she could let him all the way in. She did it for Bug, and look where that got her.

In Lauren's room; Cate walks in and Lauren is laying in her bed listening to her ipod. She looks up at Cate, and could tell she meant business.

"Tomorrow you're going to get tested for dyslexia. I don't want to hear any complaining. I'm doing this because I love you and I want you to do well in school. So, hate me all you want, but I'm doing this for your own good." Cate tells her. Lauren didn't have anything to say back. Cate gives her one last look then she walks back out.

The next day; Lauren, Cate, and Baze are all sitting in the office of the school. Lauren looked annoyed, as did Cate, but for different reasons. Baze just sat there.

"Is this really necessary?" Lauren asks.

"Yes!"

"I'm going to miss soccer tryouts."

"Well, you won't be able to play if you fail math, so yes, you have to do this." Cate tells her once more.

"Dad!" Lauren says trying to get Baze on her side.

"I agree with your Mom."

"Since when?"

"Lauren, you need to do this, okay? The faster you get done with this, the sooner you'll be able to go to tryouts." Baze tells her, calmly.

Lauren just breathes out, annoyed, and sits back in her chair. Cate looks over at Baze; not only surprised that he shut Lauren up, but thankful. Lux runs in, out of breath.

"Hey, am I late?" She asks them.

The principal's door opens and she walks out. "Lauren Bazile?" They all stand up. "You can come in here." Lauren doesn't budge until Cate gives her a little push. Lauren groans and goes into the principal's office. "It'll only take an hour."

"Okay, thank you so much." Cate says. The principal walks back into her office and shuts the door. "Lux, it's so nice of you to come and support your sister."

"Of course. I'll be back in an hour." She says running out again.

Baze and Cate laugh. "She's just like you." Cate says shaking her head.

"What? No. She's totally you." Baze says, laughing. They realized what was happening and become serious again. "I'm sorry, Cate."

Cate sits back down. "Yeah, I'm sure you are, Baze."

"No, I really am. I should have told you from the beginning instead of lying to you. It wasn't fair."

"Yeah, you're right. It wasn't fair. I asked you straight to your face and you lied to me! You lied to me, Baze! Do you know how stupid I look? How much I embarassed, not only myself, but Ryan!"

"I know; I know! I am sorry! I didn't mean for it to go like this. This wasn't the plan!"

"Then what was your plan then, Baze?"

"Well, it surely wasn't catching you already at the alter." He tells her.

Cate rolls her eyes, annoyed. "I can't do this right now, Baze. We're not here to talk about our problems. We're here for Lauren."

"Okay." He says leaning back in his chair. "Okay." Baze wasn't going to argue anymore. This wasn't exactly how he planned that their talk would turn out, but it's Cate. He should have expected it.

Outside; Lux is hanging out in the hallway when Jones walks up to her.

He laughs. "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, hey. Lauren is in their taking her test, and so is Baze and Cate. So, I figured this is the perfect time to leave them alone. But now I'm just waiting." She tells him. Jones leans against the wall on the side of her. She looks at him, confused. "What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting with you." He says staring ahead. Lux looks up at him and laughs. Why did he have to be so perfect?

An hour passes; and Lauren and the principal walk out of her office. Cate and Baze stand up and walk over to them.

"So, how'd she do?" Cate asks.

"Well, after thirty minutes of staring at the test, she finally got through it. We should have the results in a few hours and I'll give you a call." The principal tells them.

"Okay, thank you."

"Thank you." Baze says.

"I have to get to tryouts." Lauren says in a monotone as she walks passed them. Lux and Jones walk in passing Lauren.

"How'd it go?" She asks her parents.

"We'll find out in a few hours. Hey, Lux, I need to go to the studio. Do you think you could.."

"..Go to Lauren's tryouts? Yeah, sure." She says; chuckling.

"Thank you so much!" Cate hugs Lux. "Bye Jones."

Jones waves as Cate walks out. "Little dude." Baze says putting his hand out. Jones flinches a little, making Lux laugh. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hit you." Jones takes Baze's hand slowly. "How you doing?"

"I'm good, sir."

"Well, I have to go to the bar. Be good." He says kissing Lux on her head then walking out.

"Dude, you're scared of Baze." Lux says, amused.

"What? No, I'm not."

Lux just laughs and pulls Jones out with her.

At the studio; Cate walks in nervously. She needed to get a few things, so she was hoping she wouldn't run into Ryan while she is there. But not with her luck. When she walks in Ryan is sitting in his chair; staring off into space.

"Hi." Cate says nervously.

Ryan spins around. He looks surprised to see her. "Uh, hey. What are you doing here?"

"I needed to get a few things. I'm sorry." She says walking around to her side of their desk. Ryan just stares at her.

"I've been trying to call you."

Cate sighs. "Um, yeah, I know. I've just been really busy."

"With what?"

"The kids. You know."

Ryan nods his head; but he wasn't convinced. "Are you okay?" He says moving closer to her.

Cate freezes up. "I'm, I'm fine. I'm fine." She says watching Ryan out the corner of her eye.

"I know you better than that." He tells her.

Cate looks up at him. "Why are you being like this to me?"

"Like what?"

"Nice. I left you at the alter, Ryan!"

"It wasn't your fault." He tells her.

"Yes, yes, it was! Baze running in, me blaming you for having cold feet, even though it was me. It was my fault, Ryan!" Ryan tries to take Cate's hand, but she pulls away. "I can't do this!" She yells walking towards the door. "I don't deserve you."

"I had cold feet, too, Cate!" He yells; making Cate stop. "I had cold feet, too. I lied to you when I said I didn't." Cate turns around, stunned. "So, maybe I'm the one that's doesn't deserve you." He says; sadly.

Cate was speechless. She just turns around and walks out leaving Ryan there alone. Again.

At the soccer field; Lux and Jones take a seat on the bleachers.

"So, is Lauren any good?" Jones asks Lux.

Lux shrugs. "I don't know. I never even seen her play before. I did just get here a few months ago." She reminds him.

Jones laughs. "Sorry about that."

"You go to school here and you've never watched them play?" Lux asks.

"No. I'm not really a soccer person." Jones looks around. "Are you sure Lauren is trying out?"

Lux looks around. She couldn't find Lauren anywhere. "Um, yeah. Do you think she is still in the locker room?"

"I don't know. It looks like everyone is out already."

Lux looks around one last time. "I need to call Cate." She says getting up. Jones follows her as they walk off the field.

"Lux, hey." Cate says trying to hide her crying.

"Cate, is Lauren with you?"

"Uh, no. She's at tryouts. Isn't she?"

"No. Jones and I looked everywhere!" Lux tells her, panicking.

"Look everywhere again! I'm going to call Baze!" Cate says quickly hanging up and dialing Baze.

Baze is in his loft. He goes into the kitchen and grabs a beer when his phone rings. "Uh, hello?"

"Baze, please tell me that Lauren is over there with you. Please!" Cate says, panicking.

Baze looks around. "No, she's not. I thought she was at soccer tryouts." He asks, worried.

"She's not there. Lux and Jones can't find her!"

"Alright! I'm coming!" Baze yells. He hangs up the phone, grabs his jacket, then runs out.

In town; Lauren is standing outside staring up at a building with a bag in hand. You could say she was curious to see what it's like. Wonder why it was hated so much. Lauren takes in a deep breath then she begins to walk towards the entrance.

Hello Sunnyvale.


	15. All Fall Down

At Cate's house; Jones, Lux, Baze, and Cate are there. There was still no word on where Lauren was. Cate had called the police and they were at her house getting her description of Lauren.

"She has long brown hair, bright green eyes, and she's around 5'1" and about 94 pounds. She's really small." Cate says, crying. Baze is behind her with his hands on her shoulders, giving her support. "She's wearing a.." Cate couldn't remember what Lauren was wearing that day. "Crap. How can I forget what my child is wearing!" Cate yells.

Lux steps up. "She's wearing a purple dress, and she has a black coat on. I'm pretty sure she is wearing her tan hat." She explains to the cops. Cate takes Lux's hand, gratefully, and Lux gives her a small smile.

"Alright, we will put it in the system and give you guys a call." One of the cops tell them.

"Wait. That's it!" Baze asks, angrily. "Are you going to go out there and look for her?"

"If she doesn't come back tonight then we will. We need to wait 24 hours before we can officially put out a missing persons report. I'm sorry." The cop says, sympathetically, as he and the other cops make their way out of the house.

Cate turns around and cries into Baze's chest. He wraps his arms protectively around her. Ryan runs in as soon as all the cops make their way out.

"Cate!" Ryan yells. Cate turns around and runs right into Ryan's arms. "Did they find her?"

"No!" Cate cries. "They have to wait 24 hours until they can report a missing person. Ryan, she's out there, and it's cold!"

Ryan holds Cate tightly. "We're going to find her." He says, undoubtedly. "We don't have to wait 24 hours."

"Ryan's right. Jones and I will go look for her." Lux says grabbing her coat then Jones as they run out.

Baze grabs his coat. "Yeah. I'll go search around the school and ride by her friend's."

"I'll go with you. Cate, stay here incase she calls or comes home." Ryan tells her. Cate and Baze look at eachother confused. Ryan grabs his coat and turns towards Baze. "You ready?" Baze looks at Cate. He wasn't sure if this was right thing to do, but they all wanted to find Lauren so they had to do it together.

Baze nods his head. "Yeah. Let's go." Baze walks out as Ryan follows him.

Cate takes a deep breath. She kept thinking about all the conditions Lauren could be in and they were all bad. Cate looks outside. She could feel the cold air through the window and it was so dark outside. She just wanted Lauren home and safe.

At Sunnyvale; Lauren walks in and looks around. She sees kids of all ages running through the building. There were rooms filled with bunk beds and only a selected few of bathrooms. Lauren couldn't believe Lux actually lived here for sixteen years; it wasn't a home. Lauren wasn't sure if she was regretting coming here or not, but anything was better right now than being at her mom's. She needed space, and ever since Lux told her about her past, Lauren became curious to see what it was really about. Lauren knew running away wasn't the answer, and her mom was probably freaking out right now, but she needed to do this. Lauren sees an empty bed and decides to make it her's. She looks around and notices that most of the kids looked her age. Lauren walks over to the bed and puts her bag down. She takes off her shoes and lays down. Lauren feels her cell phone go off again for the 100th time that night. She picks it up and sees that it's her mom calling yet again, but she ignores it and puts it back in her bag.

Jones and Lux are in Jones truck, driving around town. Lux puts down her phone in frustration.

"She's still not answering. Where the hell could she be?" Lux asks.

"Um, what about that Phillip guy?" Jones asks her.

Lux looks at him confused. "Jake?" Jones nods. "Why would he know where Lauren is? Lauren is furious with him."

"You never know, Lux."

"Well, do you have his number?"

"Yeah." Jones hands Lux his phone. "It's in my phone."

Lux takes his phone and looks through it quickly. "Got it." She says pressing his name and calls him.

"Uh, hello?" Jake answers.

"Jake Phillips?"

"Yeah. Who is this?" Jake asks, confused.

"Lux Cassidy. Lauren Bazile's sister. You're tutoring her, right?"

"Um, well, I'm not so sure anymore. Why is Lauren's sister calling me?" Jake asks.

"You would happen to know where Lauren is? She's missing and we can't find her anywhere."

"What!" Jake says flabbergasted.

"Yeah, would you know where she is?" Lux asks him again.

Jake is silence for a second. "No." He grabs his jacket and heads towards the door. "I'm sorry. I'll go look for her."

"Wait! Where do you live? We'll pick you up." Lux tells him.

Baze and Ryan are driving around the school and the soccer field.

Ryan sighs putting down his phone. "That was Cate. Lauren hasn't called." He tells Baze.

"Damnit! Where the hell is she!" Baze yells.

"We'll find her. She couldn't have gone far." They stayed silent for a few minutes. It was kinda awkward and Baze had no idea what to even say to Ryan, and Ryan felt the same way. But he had been wanting to ask Baze something. "Why'd you do it?"

Baze looks at him, quizzily. "What are you talking about? Do what?"

"Run into the church like you did."

Baze looks back at the road, and sighs. "I don't know, man. Maybe I felt something, well I thought I felt something. I don't know."

"Do you love her?" Ryan asks him.

Baze shrugs. "Man, I'm not talking about this now. We're trying to find my kid."

"Ever since Lauren was little she wanted you and Cate to be together."

Baze smirks. "That's what kids do. They fantasize about their parents being together. Why are you doing this, Ryan? Why are you looking for Lauren like she's your kid?"

"She means something to me, too, Baze. I've been in her life since she was nine. I love that little girl."

"Okay, good. One thing we have in common, so let's stay with that. We're here together for Lauren, that's it. No talking about Cate or anything else. Just Lauren." Baze tells him.

Ryan nods his head, agreeing. Baze really just wanted to change the subject off of him and Cate. Yeah, he loves her, but it was too late for that, and it wasn't something Ryan needed to know.

In Lauren's room; Cate walks in sluggish. She looked so drained from crying, and she was exhausted but sleep was the last thing on her mind. Cate looks at Lauren's alarm clock that read 12:00. It was midnight and Cate wondered if Lauren was sleeping; if she found a place to sleep. She wondered if she was cold. All the thinking of what if's Cate couldn't take much more. She collapse on Lauren's bed, crying hysterically. Cate crawls on the head of the bed and grabs Lauren's favorite stuffed animal, a monkey, that Baze had given her when she was three. Lauren use to not go anywhere without it, and when Cate had to wash it, Lauren would throw a tantrum. Cate holds onto it tightly as she falls into a deep slumber. Tears were still falling down her face picturing her baby girl in trouble, and not able to call for her.

At Sunnyvale; Lauren finally managed to fall asleep due to the loud voices of kids going around in all the rooms, until she wakes up from being hit with a pillow. Lauren jumps up, confused. She looks around realizing where she was, then she looks up at the person who just hit her with a pillow. It was a tall, overweight man staring down at her.

"Can I help you?" She asks sarcastically. The man gives her a small, fake smiles before he yanks her up by her arm. Lauren tries to pull back but he was too strong for her. "Ow! What the hell is your problem?"

"Actually, what the hell is your problem?" He asks her. "I've never seen you around before, so you must be new. So, let me catch you up on how we do things around here. First off, no talking back. Second, you do what you're told when I tell you. Third," He slaps her across before he finishes. "You have chores." Lauren grabs her cheek in pain. "What's your name?" He asks.

"Lauren." She says quietly looking down.

The man grabs her face and makes her look up at him. "Louder!"

"Lauren!" Lauren yells in his face which caused her to get another slap in the face.

"Get to work!" He shouts in her face.

Lauren looks at her watch. "But it's midnight."

"Well, then I guess you better get to it." He says pushing her against the wall as he walks away.

Lauren slides down to the floor. She looks up at the ceiling wondering what the hell she got herself into.

A girl walks up to her and looks down at her. "You better get to it, or he'll be back, and it might not be so pretty." She tells her as she puts out her hand. Lauren looks up, confused. "We can do it together." Lauren gives her a small smile before grabbing onto the girl's hand. She pulls Lauren up. "My name is Mary."

"Lauren."

"Well, Lauren, let's get to work."

Jones, Lux, and Jake are walking around the park.

"Why would she be here?" Jones asks Lux.

Lux shrugs. "I don't know. It has a ton of sleeping spots, so this is probably where I'd go." Lux looks over at Jake who is looking around the jungle gym. "Hey, Jake." Jake stops and looks over at her. "Why'd you kiss my sister if you don't like her?"

Jake smiles. "I do like her."

"Then why didn't you talk to her about it when she wanted to talk to you. I kinda blame you for her going missing, you know." Lux tells him.

Jake looks her at confused. "Why do you blame me? It's not like I told her to runaway."

"Yeah, but she was not happy when she left from tutoring. Couldn't you have just made her happy and talked to her about it!" Lux asks him. This was all really getting to her now, and she was about to blow up on Jake, since he was the one that started it.

"Look, I wasn't ready to talk about it. I'm sure you know that I'm sixteen and she's thirteen, so considering the age difference I wasn't sure from the beginning that it would be a good idea for us to even be together." Jake explains.

"Then why kiss her! Why give her hope if you were just going to ruin it for her?"

"I don't know! I just seen her and it was the first thing I wanted to do. I like her, I do, but we can't."

"Then you should have told her that."

"I did!"

"Well, maybe in another way because we probably wouldn't be looking for her right now if you were a little nicer!" Lux yells at him.

Jones grabs Lux by the shoulders. "Okay, you need to chill. He's trying to help us find her, so give him a little credit. Okay!"

"She's little, Jones! She could be hurt!" Lux yells.

Jones hugs Lux tightly, surprised by her sudden outburst. "She's okay, I promise."

"I just want to find her." Lux cries into his chest.

Jones rubs Lux's back, softly. "I know; I know."

Jake watches them. He was getting upset with himself for handling Lauren the wrong way. Because maybe Lux is right, maybe they wouldn't be in this predicament if he would have handled things better. Lauren would be home, and maybe she would be happy.

At Sunnyvale; Lauren and Mary are in the bathrooms cleaning the floors, down on their hands and knees.

"Is it like this every night?" Lauren asks her.

Mary laughs. "Yeah, pretty much. Most of us try to sleep during the day because once Lawrence clocks in there's no time for it." Mary tells her.

"Does anyone know what he does? Have any of you tried telling someone?" Lauren asks.

Mary shakes her head. "There's no point. Who would believe orphans?"

Lauren takes in a deep breath. "This was a mistake." She says to herself.

Mary looks up at her. "No, I don't think it was a mistake that you're here. If it was then none of us would be here."

Lauren looks at Mary. This was a mistake. Running away was a mistake. Lauren had to figure out a way to get out of there, and fast.

At home; Cate is still laying in Lauren's bed, but she was awake now just staring off in space, clutching Lauren's stuffed monkey close to her chest. Baze and Ryan walk in and look at Cate. Ryan sighs.

"Be with her, man. I'll be downstairs." Ryan whispers to Baze.

Baze smiles slighty at Ryan, grateful at his kindness. Ryan smiles back as he turns away and leaves. Baze walks up slowly to the bed, and kneels down on the side of the bed next to Cate. Cate doesn't show any emotion as she keeps staring at nothing. Baze grabs Cate's hand, softly.

"Cate." When Cate doesn't respond; Baze gets up and sits down next to her. "Cate." He says again.

"Where is she?" Cate says quietly. Baze picks Cate up and holds her close to his chest. "Where's our baby girl, Baze?" She cries.

"We are going to find her, Cate. I promise!" He says confidently as he strokes Cate's hair soothingly.

At the park; Jones is on the phone as Lux and Jake sit together on a bench.

"I'm sorry for blowing up on your like that. You're right. Lauren running away isn't your fault." Lux says profoundly.

Jake shakes his head. "No, Lux. I think you might be the right one." Lux looks at him, confused. "I shouldn't have handle things the way I did with Lauren. I definitely shouldn't have kissed her if I wasn't going to actually go along with it. Lux, I really like your sister. She's amazing, and she's smart even if she doesn't think she is. But I'm too old for her."

Lux laughs. "Yeah, you are, but sometimes age doesn't matter."

"Yeah, and what would you're parents say about it?"

Lux sighs. "I honestly don't know. I wasn't too thrilled about it when she told me about you, but as I watched her talk about you; I could see how much she really liked you. Lauren talked about you like you were this amazing guy. I honestly can't see what she saw." Lux laughs; jokingly. "But she did. You mean something to her, and who am I to take that away from her? As for Cate and Baze, I couldn't see them doing anything either, except really keeping a close eye on you."

Jake nods his head. "Is it crazy if I feel the same way?"

Lux smiles and shakes her head at him. "No. You're not crazy." Lux says looking over at Jones.

Jake follows her eyes. "So, are you and Jones dating?"

Lux laughs. "No. But we like eachother."

"Then why aren't you two together?"

"It's just not the right time." Lux says as Jones walks up to them.

"That was Ryan. Lauren hasn't called and she's not picking up her phone." Jones tells them.

"Cate?" Lux asks, worriedly.

"She's not doing good. We should probably get back."

"I should probably get back home." Jake says standing up.

Lux grabs his arm. "No. Come back with us. You care about her, too, Jake."

Jake looks at Lux, intensely, before they walk away back to Jones' truck.

At Sunnyvale; Lauren is looking in the mirror at her face that is now bruised from being slapped twice. Mary walks up behind her.

"Don't worry. It'll fade soon." She tells her.

Lauren turns around and looks at Mary. "We need to get out of here." She says; desperately.

Mary shakes her head. "The only way we are getting out of here is if we get put in a foster home, Lauren."

"But I don't belong here. This was a mistake!"

"You were put here for a reason, Lauren!"

"No! I put myself here! I just wanted to see how my sister lived, and now that I see it was absolutely horrible, I just want want to go back home to my mom and dad!" Lauren cries.

Mary looks at her, confused. "Your sister? What are you talking about?"

"My sister, Lux."

"Lux Cassidy?" Lauren nods her head. "Lux Cassidy is your sister? I remember her! She kept running away, and she couldn't be found for awhile. Where is she?"

"She's with my parents. Our real parents!"

The bathroom swings open, hitting the wall hard. Lauren and Mary jump up, surprised, when they see Lawrence and his dirty self looking at them.

"I'm hearing chatter, more than I'm hearing cleaning!" He yells. Lauren and Mary start to back up slowly as Lawrence walks up to them. He corners them into a corner.

"We-We're sorry." Mary says clearly scared.

Lawrence pushes Mary away from Lauren. "Go help in the kitchen. I'm going to teach the new girl a few lessons that need to be learned if she is going to stay here." He says grabbing Lauren.

"Lauren!" Mary yells. Lawrence pushes Mary on the ground as he struggles to keep Lauren in his arms. Lauren is screaming and kicking, but Lawrence wasn't letting go.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Lauren yells, in tears.

"Shut up!" He takes Lauren into his small room and throws her on top of the bed. "You look a lot like a girl that use to stay here." He says, smiling down at Lauren. He brushes her hair out of her face. "But you're much prettier."

"Help!" Lauren yells as loud as she could.

Cate jumps up from the bed frantically. She looks around the room. Baze jumps up, mortified as he watches Cate.

"Cate, what is it! What's wrong!" He yells trying to get her attention.

"I heard her! I heard Lauren!"

Ryan and Lux run in. "What's going on!" Ryan asks.

"I heard Lauren, Ryan! She's hurt!" Ryan quickly takes Cate in his arms. "I heard her." Cate says more quietly.

"I believe you." Ryan tells her. "I believe you."

Lux was now becoming very scared. She believed Cate. When she was little she was told that a mother and daughter's bond is so close that if anything is happening to another that they would be able to hear eachother's cries. Lux wondered if Cate ever heard her's.

"Cate.." Lux says staring at her. Cate pulls away from Ryan and looks at Lux. All Lux could see in Cate's face was fear, and that's the last thing Lux wanted to feel at that moment. Cate hugs Lux tightly. "I believe you." Lux whispers in Cate's ear.

"I heard it before Lux. I heard you." Cate says trying to make sense of it.

Everyone looks at them curiously, trying to understand what they were talking about. Lux nods her head as she cries. "I know. I know." She says crying into Cate's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry." Cate whispers as she holds Lux tighter.

At Sunnyvale; Lawrence is standing over Lauren.

"Mom.." Lauren cries silently.

Lawrence slaps Lauren across the face. "You have no Mom." He says evily. "You're mine now."

He climbs on top of her. Lauren tries to get up, but he pushes her back down. "No!" She yells.

Downstairs Jones and Jake are sitting in the living room when Baze, Lux, Cate, and Ryan come down.

"Who's he?" Baze asks, noticing Jake.

"That's Jake. Lauren's tutor." Lux tells him.

Baze couldn't help but let his anger take over. He walks over to Jake and throws him against the wall. "What did you do to her!" He yells.

Lux runs over to Baze and gets in the middle of him and Jake. "Baze, stop! Jake didn't do anything!"

Baze lets go and looks at Lux. "Lauren pissed about him!"

"She was mad at me, too, Baze!" Cate reminds him. "And you!"

"And me!" Lux says. "We all did something, but we can't think about that right now. We just need to find Lauren."

"I just want to help, sir. I care about Lauren." Jake says standing back up. "I know I hurt her, but I would never do it purposely."

Baze turns away, frustrated. "If we're going to find her, we all have to stick together!" Lux tells them.

Cate steps up and puts her arm around Lux's waist, protectively. "We will."

"Okay, have you called her friends?" Ryan asks Cate.

"I'll do it." Lux says walking away.

"I'll try her cell phone again." Cate says walking away.

Lawrence throws Lux back in her own bed. She is badly beaten. Her face is severely bruised and she looks completely drained. "Stupid orphan." He says slamming the door.

Lauren lays down painfully on the bed. She could hardly move her legs. Mary walks up to her, slowly, and bends down next to the bed.

"What did he do?" Mary asks her.

"Get my bag, and grab my phone." Lauren orders her.

Mary does what she's told and grabs Lauren's phone. "Now what?"

"Find Lux's number and call her." Lauren says painfully inbetween breaths.

Mary looks through Lauren's contacts just as her phone shuts off. "Uh, Lauren, it died."

"What! No!" Lauren cries. She was never getting out now.

It had now been 24 hours. The police contacted Cate and Baze to let them know that they were now on the search for their daughter. Ryan and Baze still kept a look out around the school and soccer field, and Lux, Jones, and Jake would take a drive around the block every few hours. Cate, on the other hand, stayed at the house. She sat at the dining room table for hours staring at the phone, praying that someone, or Lauren would call.

"It can't be this hard to find someone!" Lux groans. She, Jones, and Jake were riding around the block for the fifth time that morning.

"I just don't get it. She isn't at the school, or the soccer field, or none of her friend's houses. Do you think someone could have taken her?" Jake asks.

Lux looks at him in terror. "I don't even want to think about that! And you shouldn't be either."

"I'm sorry. I'm just saying.. maybe.."

"Stop!" Jones yells. "She's around here somewhere. We can't find her because Lauren doesn't want to be found, so we just need to think how she would think." Jones tells them.

Lux shakes her head. "I pretty much just met her. Do you really think I know how she thinks?"

At Sunnyvale; Lauren is sitting against the wall on her bed as Mary tries to wipe the dry blood off her face.

"I don't understand why he's doing this to you."

"Well, when you figure it out let me know." Lauren says bitterly. "What time is it?"

Mary looks up at the clock on the wall. "Ten in the morning. He usually comes back around seven."

"Do they let you go outside?" Lauren asks.

"Yeah, but it's fenced in all around. There's no way to escape."

Lauren closes her eyes, defeated. She wasn't sure if she could make it another night. "I have to get out of here." Lauren looks around the room, then she notices the window on the other side of the room. "What about the window?"

Mary looks at it. "It has bars on the outside. You'd never get out."

Lauren gets up slowly and walks towards it. She grabs a chair and stands on top of it. "The bars look big enough for me to slide through."

"But we're on the second floor. How are you going to do that?"

"I'll take that risk. It's better than being in here when I have a family." Lauren says getting down from the chair.

Mary looks at Lauren, curiously. "Why'd you run anyway? I mean if your family is so great?"

Lauren sighs. "I don't know. I thought I was mad at them, but really I was mad at myself. I was doing a lot of stupid things and taking it out on them."

"So, you love your mom and dad?"

Lauren smiles. "Yeah. My mom is insane, but I love her to death. She's my best friend. And my dad. Well, once he finds out what's going on here, he's going to kill Lawrence."

At Cate's; Baze and Ryan walk through the door.

"I am going to kill whoever has her!" Baze yells.

"You can't think like that, Baze." Ryan tells him as he walks over to Cate. Cate is still where they left her that morning. Staring at the phone in the same position. "Anything?" He asks her. Cate just shakes her head. Lux, Jones, and Jake walk in. Cate looks at Lux, but she shakes her head.

"Nothing." Lux tells her.

"I can't do this!" Cate yells standing up. "My little girl is out there, by herself, it's freezing outside, and I can't help her! What if she's hurt!" 

Ryan grabs Cate's hands. "We can't think like that, Cate. We have to believe that she is okay."

Hours had passed and Lauren and Mary were waiting impatiently for the right time. It was six o'clock and shifts were about to change. Lauren figured this would be the perfect time to make her escape.

"Okay, help me with the chair." Mary pulls the chair in front of the window as Lauren grabs her bag. "I promise we'll come back and help you and everyone here."

Mary smiles. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I keep my promises." Lauren tells her. She slowly climbs on the chair and opens the window. She looks around one last time before jumping up. Mary hears a thumb outside and turns around. She sees Lawrence's shadow walking towards the room.

"Lauren! He's coming!" Lauren starts to panic and hurries to squeeze through the window. Lawrence grabs her by her legs and pulls her down.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He ask her.

Lauren falls to the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" She asks him. "You're suppose to be here at seven!" She yells quickly regretting it.

Lawrence kicks Lauren in the stomach. "What did I tell you about talking back!" Lauren groans in pain as she holds her stomach. "I guess you haven't learned your lesson." He grabs Lauren by her arm and pretty much drags her out of the room. Mary looks on, frighten. She wanted to help, but if she did, she'd be the next victim. So, all everyone could do was watch.

Lawrence throws Lauren against the wall. "Leave me alone!" Lauren yells, wincing in pain.

Lawrence kicks her in the face. "I don't know where you came from, but obviously you weren't taught any manners. You're in my house now. We play by my rules." He says bending down.

"Mom.." Was all Lauren could say.

At Cate's; Jake is walking through the living room looking at pictures of Lauren. Jones walks up to him.

"Pretty crazy, huh?"

Jake sighs. "Yeah, kinda is. How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Jones asks.

"You like Lux, right?" Jones nods his head. "So, how do you do it and not go through with it?"

Jones smiles. "It's more than that. Lux just broke up with her boyfriend."

"So what? If it's right, it's right."

"She'll be back, man, and you can make it right."

Baze, Cate, Ryan, and Lux are watching them from the dining room table.

"So, how old is this little dude?" Baze asks.

"Sixteen." Lux says quitely. They all look at her, surprised.

"Sixteen?" Baze asks.

"Don't freak out!" Lux tells them.

"Freak out? Lux, he's sixteen. He's a little bit too old for Lauren." Ryan tells her.

Baze looks at him, annoyed. "Ryan, let me handle this. Lux, he's sixteen and a little too old for Lauren."

Lux rolls her eyes. "She really likes him and he really likes her. Jake's a good guy. Just give him a chance."

"He's the least of our worries right now." Cate tells them. Cate still hadn't slept, and neither have the rest of them, but she looked worse out of them all.

"Cate, do you want to go lay down? Rest for awhile?" Ryan asks her.

Cate shakes her head. "Not until Lauren is home." She tells him.

At Sunnyvale; Tasha walks into the familiar room and throws her bag onto the familiar bed. Mary looks up and smiles.

"Tasha!" She shouts excitedly as she runs up to her.

Tasha smiles and hugs Mary. "Hey, Mary. How you holding up?"

Her smile quickly fades thinking about Lauren. "Not too well. I thought you left."

"Well, my time was done, so I'm back here in this hell hole. What's been going on?" She asks Mary.

Mary sighs. "There's a new girl."

Tasha's face quickly turns to concern. "How old is she?"

"Thirteen."

"God. Lawrence is still here?" Tasha asks. Mary nods her head, slowly. Tasha sighs, brushing her hand through her hair. She did not want to be back here, especially if she had to watch the new girls get thrown around.

The door opens again, and it's Lawrence. He throws Lauren back on her bed, and laughs. "They'll never learn." He says walking away.

Tasha and Mary look at her gasping for air and holding her body in a ball, crying in pain.

"Oh, and Tasha." Mary says as Tasha looks at her. "She's Lux's sister."

Tasha eyes widen as she turns to Lauren. She runs over to her and moves her hair out of her face. It was definitely Lauren.

At Cate's; Jones sits down next to Lux on the couch.

"Hey. How are you holding up?" He asks her.

Lux shrugs. "I don't know. I feel like I need to be strong for Cate. She's a mess."

"It's okay to be scared, Lux. She's your sister." Lux smiles slightly. "And I'm here when you feel like you need to break down."

"Thanks, Jones."

"Oh, it's no problem."

"No. I mean being here. Thanks for staying here with me. For us."

Jones takes Lux's hand. "I'm always here, Lux. Always." Lux's phone rings making them both jump a little. Lux laughs. "Sorry." She answers it. "Hello?"

"Lux, it's me. Tasha."

Lux looks confused. "Tasha? Hey, what's up?"

"Missing someone?"

"What? Tasha, don't joke with me."

"I have Lauren. Meet me a block away from Sunnyvale." Tasha tells her.

Lux hangs up her phone and looks at Jones. "We need to go." She stands up and looks towards the rest of them. "We are going to go check around the block one more time." She says grabbing both Jones and Jake with her as they walk out the door.

"What's going on, Lux?" Jones asks.

They all get in the truck. "Tasha has Lauren."

Outside; Tasha is bending down next to Lauren. Lauren looks worse than she did the day before and she was really weak.

"Lauren, can you hear me? Lauren?" Tasha snaps her fingers in front of Lauren's face.

Laure opens her eyes as far as she could. "Why am I outside?" She asks.

"I got you out of there. Lux is on her way." Tasha tells her. "Care to tell me why you were there?"

Lauren laughs painfully. "Wanted to be Lux for the day." She jokes.

"Bad joke." Tasha tells her.

"I was mad at my family. And I was curious to see how Lux lived. Big mistake." Lauren says breathing heavily. She starts gasping for air and coughing. Tasha hurries and grabs Lauren.

"You need to stay awake, Lauren!"

Lux, Jones, and Jake pull up. They all get out and run over to them. Lux bends down next to Lauren.

"What happened?" Lux asks in shock, staring at Lauren's beaten and bruised face.

"I don't know. I just got here. But from what I'm told, she wanted to see how her sister lived." Tasha tells her.

Lux looks at sadly. "Lauren, can you hear me?"

"Lux?" Lauren says barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm here!" She says grabbing Lauren and holding her closely to her.

"Who did this to her?" Jake asks.

"Lawrence." Lux tells him.

"Who's Lawrence?" Jones asks her.

"We'll explain later. We need to get her home." Lux tells them. Jones goes over and pick Lauren up in his arms. He walks over to the truck and puts her in the backseat, carefully. Lux turns to Tasha. "Come on, Tash. I'm not losing you again."

Tasha grabs Lux's hand and they both get in the backseat with Lauren.

At the house; Ryan gets off his phone.

"That was Lux. They found her." He says happily.

Cate and Baze look up, surprised. "What?" Cate asks.

"Did they say what kind of condition she is in?"

Ryan shakes his head. "Lux said they'll explain everything when they get here. But they found her!"

Cate runs and hugs Ryan, crying in relief.

They kids pull up at the house. Lux and Tasha help Lauren out of the car. She was too weak to hold herself up, and barely awake.

"Cate! Baze!" Lux yells.

Cate, Baze, and Ryan run out of the house. But stop when they see how beaten up Lauren is. Cate covers her mouth with her hand as her tears start to fall. She walks up slowly to Lauren and looks down at her little girl. "Oh, baby. What happened?"

"She was at Sunnyvale. If it wasn't for Tasha she probably would have died." Lux tells them.

"Mommy.." Lauren says weakly.

"We need to get her upstairs." Baze says. He walks closer to Lauren. "Come on, kiddo." Baze picks up Lauren and walks towards the house as Cate follows.

Lux turns towards Jones and kisses him gently on his lips before she takes Tasha's hand gently, and smiling at her gratefully. Tasha nods her head towards the house. Lux smiles and runs after Baze, Cate, and Lauren. They all stand outside, giving the small family time alone and space. 


	16. Girl In The Moon

Baze walks in carrying Lauren in his arms, with Cate and Lux following closely behind. He lays Lauren down gently on her bed, she curls up holding herself, crying silently to herself. Cate sits on the bed next to Lauren and brushes her hand through Lauren's tangled hair.

"She needs to be cleaned up." Cate says, hoarsely.

"Yeah, I'll go fix her bath water." He says quickly turning away to Lauren's bathroom.

Lux walks closer to the bed, looking down at Lauren.

"Why was she at Sunnyvale?" Cate asks, not taking her eyes off of Lauren.

Lux shakes her head. "She wanted to see how I lived. I can't believe she went there."

Cate moves closer to Lauren. "Lauren, baby, can you hear me?"

Lauren groans in pain. "Mom, make it stop! Make it stop!" She cries.

Cate couldn't take much more. She picks up Lauren and sits her on her lap. Lauren was definitely light enough for Cate to pick up and right now Cate was grateful for that. Lauren sinks her head into the crook of Cate's neck and grabs on tight to her shirt. Cate wraps her arms protectively around Lauren. The last thing she wanted was Lauren to be out of her arms and out of her sight. Baze comes back in, and he looked like he had been crying. Lux noticed his wet cheeks and sighed sypathetically. This was really bad if Baze was crying.

"Okay, her water is ready. Do you need me to help you?" He asks.

Cate shakes her head. "No. I think I can handle it from here." Baze nods his head. "Can you go update Ryan please?"

"Yeah, sure." He says leaving the room.

Cate gently picks up Lauren and goes into the bathroom. Lux follows her in. "Let me help you." She says.

Cate puts Lauren on the floor slowly and bends down in front of her. She pulls Lauren's shirt off and sees the huge bruises forming on Lauren's abdomen. "Oh my gosh!" She gasps. Lux looks at them. "Who did this to her?"

"Lawrence." Lux says calmly.

Cate looks over at her. "Who's that?"

"Um, he's a man that works the night shifts, and preys on the new girls that come in. He usually goes for the vulnerable ones." Lux explains.

"Has he ever did this to you, Lux!" Cate asks, sternly.

Lux nods her head. "Twice. But I told myself I wasn't letting it happen again and I just kept running away everytime they sent me there."

Cate turns back to Lauren and pulls off her pants. There were more bruises going down her legs and near her private. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is." Cate says, horrified.

Lux looks down at what Cate is looking at. "Oh my gosh."

"Okay, okay. Let's get you in the tub." Cate says picking up Lauren. She starts to put her in the bathtub, but Lauren starts to freak out before she even hits the water.

"No! NO! STOP! NO! STOP! STOP!" Lauren screams. Lauren flashes back to Sunnyvale. Lawrence undresses Lauren and throws her in the hot steaming bathtub. She grabs onto Cate as tightly as she can trying to get away from the water. Cate looks confused as she puts Lauren back on her lap. "No! No! No!" Lauren cries into Cate's shirt.

"Sh, sh, sh." Cate says grabbing a towel and covering Lauren with it. She looks at Lux. "What is that about!"

Lux shrugs. "I don't know, Cate." She says, frantically. Lux tries to search Lauren's body with her eyes. Tears start to form in her eyes when she notices burn mark along Lauren's side and arms. "Cate." Lux says, not taking her eyes off of Lauren. Cate looks up at Lux. She could hear the horrified sound in Lux's voice, and it scared her.

"What, Lux?" Lux points to Lauren's burns. Cate looks back at Lauren, and sighs dramatically into Lauren's shoulder. "I have to get her cleaned somehow. Lux, hand me that rag." Lux does as she's told. Cate soaks the rags in the water and puts a little bit of soap on to it. "Okay, baby. I'm going to clean you up. No tub. I promise, angel." Cate tells her soothingly. She kisses Lauren on her head, gently.

"I'll go get her some clothes." Lux says running out the bathroom.

Cate turns back to Lauren. "Oh, baby. What did he do to you?" Lauren looks up slowly, with her weak eyes, up at her mom. Cate and Lauren lock eyes for second, and all Cate could see is fear and pain in her daughter's eyes. Lauren was too tired to keep her eyes open, so she laid her head back down on Cate's chest. Cate kisses Lauren gently on her forehead. "I love you, sweet girl." Cate whispers. She takes in another deep breath and starts cleaning Lauren's body tenderly, and carefully so she wouldn't hurt her. Lauren was too tired to fight it. She knew she was finally in her mom's arms and she was safe.

Lux runs into Lauren's room and grabs a sweatshirt and some sweatpants from Lauren's closet. Before she could get to the door though, images from her past entered her mind and she fell to the floor. Lux cries out, dramatically, holding Lauren's clothes close to her. She couldn't believe she let this happen to her little sister. What happened to her was not ever suppose to happen to Lauren, but she let it happen. Jones runs in and kneels down in front of her.

"Lux, what happened!" He asks, frightened by her cries.

Lux shakes her head. "Lauren is hurt because of me! She's hurt because of me!" Jones takes Lux in is arms and holds her.

"Sh, sh. It's not your fault, Lux." He tells her, softly.

Lux pushes away. "Yes, it is! It is my fault! I told her about Sunnyvale. I should have told her about what happened there then maybe she wouldn't have went! I could have stopped it from happening!" She cries.

Jones cups Lux's cheek, wiping away her tears. "This isn't your fault, Lux. Lauren doesn't blame you."

Lux wipes away her tears away and stands up. "I have to get back to her." She says, storming out of the bedroom.

Jones sighs, still looking at Lux's spot on the floor. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or scared about how Lux was taking everything. He knew he had to be there for her though.

Lux runs back into the bathroom, where Cate still has Lauren in her lap. She's wiping Lauren's face gently, and lovingly. Lux smiles slighty, engaged in the interaction between Cate and Lauren. She thought back to when it happened to her, and wondered if Cate would have reacted the same way she is reacting to Lauren. Lux finally shook the thought away and remembered that the past is the past. Lauren is the one hurt now and she had to focus on her now.

"I got her clothes." Lux says, placing the clothes on the counter. She kneels down in front of them. "How's she doing?"

Cate doesn't take her eyes off of Lauren. "I think she's sleeping. I hate to wake her up, but I need to wash her hair." She looks up at Lux. "Do you think you can help me?" Cate asks, quietly.

Lux doesn't hesitate for second before answering. "Of course, Cate. I'll do anything."

"Okay, well first let's get her clothes on." Lux grabs Lauren's sweatshirt. Cate pulls Lauren up so that her back is leaning against her chest. She grabs the shirt and places it over Lauren's head, as Lux puts Lauren's pants on gently. Cate stands up and picks Lauren up. She walks them over to the bathtub and sits Lauren on the edge of the tub. Cate sits besides her steadying her up. Lucky for them, Lauren didn't budge. Lux knew Lauren was too tired to fight anything because she knew the feeling. Lux grabs the shower head and starts it, but she makes sure not to turn it on too hot before she wets Lauren's hair. Cate grabs the shampoo and rubs it gently onto Lauren's head. She didn't care that she was getting wet herself. She just wanted Lauren nice and clean, but Lux knew that Lauren wouldn't feel so nice and clean for a long time. When it happened to her she would make sure to bathe three times a day, but nothing seemed to ever work. Lawrence was on her all the time, so it felt.

After, Cate picks Lauren back up and brings her back into her room. She lays Lauren down, gently, on her bed, and covers her with a blanket. "I'm going to be right back." Cate says, bending down and kisses Lauren on her cheek. Lux closes her eyes as the tears start to fall again. Lauren looked so helpless, and it hurt Lux to no end that she let Lauren go through that. "I'm going to go change my clothes." Cate tells Lux as she walks passed her and out of the room. Lux knew she couldn't just stand there and not do anything. So, she walks into the bathroom and start cleaning up Lauren's dirty clothes and the bloody rag that Cate cleaned her with. Without looking at Lauren again, Lux walks passed her and out of the room. She goes downstairs and throws everything into the laundry room. When she turns around, she seen the guys looking at her with sorrow in their eyes. Lux walks over to Baze and wraps her arms fiercely around his waist as she cries. Baze wraps his arms protectively around Lux, holding her tightly, and telling her everything would be okay.

Lux pulls away shaking her head. "It won't be okay, Baze. I shouldn't have told her about Sunnyvale, or I should have told her all the bad things that happened there. Then maybe she wouldn't have went, and she would be okay!" Lux cries. "I'm so stupid."

Baze bends down looking into Lux's eyes, sternly. "You are not stupid, Lux. You didn't know Lauren would do this. You didn't know she would get hurt. Do not blame yourself."

"I need her to be okay, Baze." Lux tells him, desperately. Baze nods his head.

"Me too." He grabs Lux and hugs her again.

Cate comes in, in different clothes. Ryan is the first one to go up to her and hug her. Cate lets herself go into Ryan's grasp, as she breathes his smell in and closes her eyes, silently. "Is she okay?" He asks.

Cate pulls away from their hug, and nods her head. "For now. She's sleeping."

"What happened up there? We heard screaming." Baze tells her.

"She was scared of the bathtub. I had to wash her with just a rag. I can't believe that man did this to her." Cate says, exhausted.

Baze and Ryan look at her confused as their anger started to rise. "What man?" Baze asks her.

"Lawrence." Lux says looking up at Baze.

"Who's Lawrence?"

"A man that takes night shifts. He did it to her. I'm sure of it." Lux tells them.

"What!" Ryan yells.

"Did he?" Baze says, as Cate looks up at him, with no emotion. "Cate?" Cate nods her head slowly. "Damnit!" Baze yells as he punches the banister in front of him. He manages to get his hand through the wood.

"Baze!" Cate yells running up to him. He takes his fist out and it's covered with blood. "Oh, god. You're bleeding."

Jones runs into the kitchen and grabs a towel. "He didn't rape her!" Lux yells, uncontrollably. They all look at her. "He wouldn't rape her. It's too risky."

Jones hands Baze the towel, and he wraps it around his hand. "Are you sure?" Ryan asks.

Lux nods. "Positive. He wouldn't take that chance, incase something happened. But he would do other things." Lux says, slowly, looking away from them.

They all breathed out in relief, but knowing that he did other things to Lauren didn't make the situation any better. "I need to get back up to her. Ryan, can you please take care of this?" She says pointing to Baze.

Ryan nods. "Yeah, of course. Get up there." He says smiling slighty at Cate. Cate thanks him with her eyes before she runs back upstairs to Lauren. Baze takes the towel off his hand so that Ryan could examine it. "Baze, I think you broke your hand."

"Great. Just what I need." Baze says, annoyed.

"Go to the hospital." Lux tells him.

"I'm not leaving her." Baze tells her.

"Shouldn't Lauren go to the hospital, too?" Jones asks.

Lux shakes her head. "No! She's fine." Lux walks up to Baze. "Please go to the hospital, Dad. Lauren will be okay with us here." Baze stares at Lux. He couldn't believe Lux had just called him Dad, but Lux didn't seem phased by it as she stares at him, firmly. She was going to stand by this and Baze knew there was no changing his daughter's mind.

"Uh, O-Okay. I'll go. But you better call me if something happens. Okay?" He asks, sternly. Lux nods her head as she reaches up to hug Baze, tightly.

"Come on, man." Ryan says grabbing his and Baze's jacket before they walk out the door.

Jones walks up to Lux. "I'm going to go home for a little while, okay? You call me if anything happens." Lux smiles, lovingly at Jones, as she hugs him gently. He kisses her on her cheek and walks away.

Lux turns her head and sees Jake standing there awkwardly. "Jake?" He turns to her, and Lux could see how scared he was. "She's going to be okay." Jake nods his head, not really believing her. "You should go home and get some rest. I'll call you if anything happens to her. Okay?"

"Tell her I was here. Okay?"

Lux smiles, and hugs him. "I'll tell her."

Jake smiles, gratefully, before he grabs his things and follows Jones out the door.

Upstairs; Cate is sitting by the window, watching Lauren sleep. She was sleeping peacefully, so Cate didn't want to ruin it. She figured this was the only time Lauren actually was able to sleep since she's been gone. Lauren starts to move around, uncomfortably as her dreams started to get the best of her. She starts moaning, like she is in pain, and this quickly got Cate's attention. "No! No! Please!" Lauren yells. Cate could hear the fear in her daughter's voice. She runs over to the side of the bed to try to wake Lauren up.

"Lauren, wake up, baby! It's just a dream!" Cate yells, shaking Lauren.

Lux runs in from the noises and watches Lauren as she cries. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Lauren yells, right before she shoots up from her bed, dripping in her own sweat, panting heavily. Cate gets in front of Lauren and looks into her eyes.

"Baby, it's me, Mom. It's Mom." Cate says, concerned.

Lauren breathes out heavily, in and out, as she stares back into her mother's eyes. "No, I'm a stupid orphan." Lauren cries.

Cate shakes her head, confused. "You're not an orphan. I'm right here, Lauren. I'm not going anywhere!" Cate says, pulling Lauren to her and holding onto her securely in her arms as Lauren cries hard into Cate's shoulder. "Shh. You're safe now. You're safe. I'm not letting you go." Cate whispers into Lauren's ear.

At the hospital; Ryan and Baze are sitting in the waiting room waiting impatiently to be seen. This was the last place either of them wanted to be while Lauren was at home, more hurt than anyone. But Baze knew if he didn't take care of himself first, then Lux would never leave him alone about it.

"Man, why is this taking forever?" Baze says loudly. He was getting annoyed. They had been there for over an hour and Ryan wasn't too happy about it either.

"If you're not dying, they take their time." Ryan tells him.

"I can't believe that man did this to her. Do you think he did it to Lux?" Baze asks, nervously.

Ryan sighs, shaking his head. "I don't even want to think about that." He tells Baze. "He shouldn't even be working around kids, man."

"I say we take a little visit over to Sunnyvale."

Ryan looks up at Baze, surprised, but he wasn't going to argue. That's exactly what he wanted to do, too.

Back at the house; Lux walks into Lauren's room and hands her a glass of water. Lauren, relunctantly takes it from Lux and takes a small sip before placing it back into Lux's hand. She looks up wearily up at Cate. Cate strokes Lauren's cheek lovingly as Lauren falls into her mom's arms, resting her head on Cate's chest. Cate kisses her gently on the forehead.

"It was just a dream." Cate whispers. But it felt more than a dream to Lauren. It felt real. Cate looks down, when she feels Lauren grab onto her shirt, clutching it tightly. She grabs Lauren's hand, rubbing it softly. "It's okay."

Lux stares at her sister. Lauren was staring off into nowhere, holding onto Cate like someone was going to take her away. She was so angry with herself, still, and she was pretty sure that wasn't going away. Lauren looked helpless, lost, and in so much pain. Lux just wanted to take it all away from her. All the bruises, cuts, burns, and images. Her life wasn't suppose to be like this; it was suppose to be simple. Lux is the one that grew up for sixteen years without parents, and taking beatings from Lawrence. This wasn't meant for Lauren. Lauren would doze off a few times, but as soon as her head would fall, her eyes instantly shot back open and she would be staring back at nothing. Both Lux and Cate knew how exhausted Lauren was, but they also knew that if she closed her eyes, then her dreams brought her back to Sunnyvale, and they didn't want that.

At the hospital, after a lot of bitching and moaning, Baze was finally seen. His hand was fractured and he had to wear a brace for two weeks, but other than that he would be fine. He walks out of the room, meeting Ryan outside.

"So, I been thinking." Ryan starts.

Baze glares him. "You're not changing your mind, are you?" He asks.

Ryan shakes his head. "No. But I am changing my mind on when we should do it."

"What do you mean?" Baze asks, confused.

"Baze, your daughter just came home. Maybe we should go back there and handle this another day? Us possibly going to jail for the night is not what Cate, and the girls need right now." Ryan explains.

Baze looks away, thinking. "Okay, yeah. You're right. But I'm going to make this guy pay soon."

Ryan pats Baze on his shoulder agreeing.

Back at the house; They were all in their same positions. Lauren is laying on Cate, and Lux is sitting by the window watching them. But suddenly Lauren jumps up from her bed and rushes to her closet. Cate and Lux stand up, curiously, as they watch Lauren dig through her closet.

"Lauren, sweetie. What's wrong?" Cate asks. Cate and Lux exchange looks when Lauren doesn't answer.

Baze and Ryan walk in slowly. They see Lauren and look at Lux strangely. Lux just shrugs her shoulders before noticing the brace on Baze's hand.

"Did you break it?" She asks, concerned.

Baze smiles at her. "I just fractured it. It'll be okay in no time. I promise." He looks back at Lauren, then cautiously walks over to her. Lauren grabs what she had been looking for and slips it on her wrist. Her bracelet that Cate had given her. Somehow she left it when she ran away, and her wrist was feeling naked without it. Lauren looks from the corner of her eye as Baze tries to reach out and touch Lauren's shoulder. She jumps up and leans against the wall, looking at Baze fearfully. He regretted reaching out to her as he pulls back and stands up. Cate hurries and kneels down on the side of Lauren, grabbing her by her knees.

"Lauren, it's okay. It's just Dad." Cate assures her, but Lauren couldn't hear her. She couldn't hear anything. Baze turns and looks at Lux, who looked just as scared as he was. Lauren shuts her eyes tightly, shaking her head uncontrollably, shaking the images out of her head. She was having flashbacks of Lawrence reaching out and grabbing her by her arms, and slapping her furiously across the face. Cate could tell that Lauren was no longer there anymore, and so could Baze. He turns around, angry, and leaves the room.

"She's hyperventilating." Ryan says moving closer, but Lux grabs his arm, stopping him. He turns towards her, confused.

Lux shakes her head. "She isn't ready." She simply says.

Ryan nods and stands back, leaving it now up to Cate and Lux. "Baby, I need you to breath slower for me!" Cate says trying to get her attention. "Lauren, open your eyes and look at me. I need you to breathe slower!" She yells. Lauren starts shaking, violently. The images weren't going away. Lauren felt like she was back there, back in Lawrence's room.

Cate didn't know what else to do, so she quickly picks up Lauren and runs into the bathroom with her. Lux follows her in, curious to what Cate was about to do. She turns on the shower, making sure that it's cold water, and puts Lauren in the tub. Cate gets in with her, holding her as the water falls onto Lauren's body. Cate wasn't sure what else to do, but she knew that the cold water would hopefully get Lauren to come back to them, and she was right. Lauren starts crying, hysterically, as she moves closer to Cate, as close as she could be. Cate brushes through Lauren's hair, and rubs her back as gently as she could. "Shh. It's okay. Let it out. Let it all out, baby. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Cate tells her, continuously. "I promise."

Lux runs back into Lauren's room and looks at Ryan, questionably. As if Ryan knew what Lux was thinking, he turns away and runs downstairs to the living room. When he doesn't see Baze anywhere, he starts to panic.

Outside; Baze has a bat in his hand and he is walking fast, and fuming out of both ears. If anyone was to pass by, they surely would have thought that he was on his way to kill someone. Or that he probably really was. 


	17. Fall Apart Today

Lux runs downstairs when she hears Ryan yelling for Baze. "What's going on! Where is he?" Lux asks in panic.

Ryan grabs his jacket and heads for the door. "He went to Sunnyvale."

"What?" Lux yells. "I'm coming!" Lux says following Ryan out of the house.

Upstairs; Cate finishes putting some new warm clothes on Lauren. Lauren is finally coherent and is just watching Cate move around her. She felt so embarrassed, and still so gross. For a second, Lauren thought she could smell Sunnyvale still on her. Chills run down her body at just the thought of it. Cate smiles, softly, as she sits next to Lauren.

"How are you feeling?" Cate asks her.

Lauren looks down and starts playing with her bracelet. "Tired." She whispers.

Cate rubs the back of Lauren's head. "Well, lay down, baby. Get some rest."

Lauren shakes her head. "Where's Dad?"

Cate sighs. "Ryan and Lux went look for him."

Lauren jumps up. "They went to Sunnyvale, didn't they?" Cate shakes her head, confused. "Mom, Lux can't go there! Don't let her go there!" Lauren cries.

Cate grabs Lauren by her shoulders. "Lauren, calm down. You need to breathe. Daddy and Ryan are with her. I promise everything will be fine." Cate assures her pulling Lauren towards her. Lauren rests her head on Cate's chest, still crying.

"No." She says shaking her head. "It's not fine. It's not fine." She repeats.

Cate sighs, kissing Lauren on top of her head. She agreed with Lauren. She wasn't sure if everything was going to be fine.

At Sunnyvale; Baze busts through the door; bat still in hand. All the kids look at Baze, scared. Tasha runs up Baze.

"Baze, you can't be here!" She tells him.

"No, you shouldn't be here! Where is he!" He yells.

Lawrence's bedroom door flies open and the big gross overweight man steps out. "Who the hell are you! We're closed. If you want a kid, come back tomorrow." He tells Baze.

"I'm looking for a little girl. Her name is Lauren, and she has long brown hair, kinda small." Baze says more calmly. He was wanting Lawrence to give him a reason to beat the crap out of him.

Lawrence laughs. "Yeah, pretty little thing. But she isn't for sale." He tells him.

That was just enough for Baze. He runs over to Lawrence and starts hitting him with the bat before throwing the bat aside and using his fist. "That's my daughter, you bastard! You are going to pay for what you did to her!"

Ryan and Lux run in just in time before Baze could literally kill Lawrence. Ryan runs over to Baze and pulls him off. "Baze, stop it! Get off of him!"

"No! Not until he knows how it feels to get the crap beat out of him!" Baze yells trying to lunge back at Lawrence, but Ryan steps in front of him.

"He'll get what he deserves, Baze!" Ryan shouts. "But it's not your place!"

"Not my place! Ryan, my daughter is at home suffering because of this asshole!"

"And that's exactly where you need to be! At home, with Lauren! Let the police take care of him!" Baze looks at Lawrence one last time in disgust. He just wanted to kill this man, but he knew he couldn't take care of Lauren in jail. Baze grabs his bat and storms out of Sunnyvale. Lux looks at Lawrence who is pretty much knocked out on the floor. "Let's get out of here, Lux." Ryan says following Baze out.

Lux takes one last look around then she looks at Tasha. "Why did you come back here?" She asks her.

Tasha sighs. "Lux, you know I can't handle being around that. I helped your sister get back home, so you need to go and help her get better."

Lux shakes her head, confused. "This place was hell for us, Tasha! And you came back here?"

"Lux.."

"No! You're coming back to Cate's with us. You're not leaving me again and I'm for sure not letting you stay here with him." She says looking at Lawrence.

Tasha does the same. "I can't stay there forever, Lux. They're not my family."

"But I am. We'll figure out something. Come on." Lux holds out her hand. Tasha looks around the room one more time, and then back at Lawrence. She really didn't want to stay there with him, plus she had no idea what he might have planned for her since she helped Lauren escape. Tasha looks at Lux, who is smiling at her.

"Fine. Let's go." She grabs Lux's hand and they leave Sunnyvale. Together.

Back at the house; Cate still had Lauren laying in her arms, and Lauren was finding it very difficult to fight sleep. This didn't go unnoticed by Cate.

"Sweetie, close your eyes. You've been up almost all night." She could feel Lauren shake her head. Cate lifts Lauren's bruised face to look up at her. Lauren looked completely exhausted and barely all there. "I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you." Cate tells her as she kisses her gently on her forehead. "I promise."

Lauren finally pulls back and rests her head on Cate's lap. Cate smiles slightly as she starts brushing her fingers smoothly through Lauren's hair. It was almost morning and she was getting worried about Baze, Ryan, and Lux, but she was so happy she finally got Lauren to close her eyes and sleep. Cate knew it was going to be a long time from now before Lauren was fully recovered, and she was going to make sure every single one of them are there for her. Cate hears the front door open, so she looks down to make sure Lauren was definitely asleep before she tried to move. Baze and Ryan come into the room, and Cate looks up.

"Hey, I was just about to meet you guys downstairs." She says, looking at Baze. "What did you do?"

Baze smiles slighty. "How's she doing?" He asks, ignoring Cate's question.

"I finally got her to close her eyes and sleep." Cate tells him as she lifts Lauren up gently and puts her down on her pillow. Baze walks up slowly to Lauren and bends down. He takes her hand and kisses it gently.

"I got it from here if you want to go and change or something." Baze tells her.

Cate nods, smiling. "Thanks." Cate leaves the room with Ryan following close behind. "So, what did he do?" She asks Ryan, as she goes to her closet.

Ryan laughs. "Well, he beat the crap out of Lawrence, but I stopped him before he could kill him."

"Good. As much as I want him dead; we can't have Baze in jail. I need him right now. Lauren needs him." Cate says putting another shirt on.

Ryan sighs. "Yeah, I know you do."

"I'm so scared for her, Ryan. She doesn't even want to close her eyes and sleep because she is afraid of her own dreams. I don't know what to do for her." Cate says sitting down on her bed, frustrated.

Ryan goes and sits down next to her. "You're doing it, Cate. She needs her mom, and you being with her is helping."

Cate smiles softly. "Thanks. Um, Ryan, I really appreciate you being, but.."

Lux walks in interrupting. "Uh, Cate. Police are here." She says quietly.

Ryan and Cate both look up, concerned, and frightened. They weren't exactly why the cops would be there. Well, either to arrest Baze, or worse, take Lauren and Lux away.

Downstairs; Ryan and Cate come down where the cops are talking to Tasha and Lux.

"This is my mom." Lux tells him.

"Can I help you?" Cate asks them.

"Well, we got a call, ma'm about a man that works at the Sunnyvale Group Home. Lawrence Watson is the name of the man that works there. He's been arrested tonight because he's been abusing the kids at the group home, and possibly molesting them. We were told that your daughter was one of them." He tells her.

Cate sighs. "Uh, yes. She was. Well, she hasn't actually told us, but by the way she looks right now tells us otherwise."

"Is there anyway we could talk to her?"

Baze comes downstairs, surprising everyone. "She's sleeping right now. We're not waking her." He tells them.

"And you are?"

"I'm her father. My daughter has been through enough right now. She doesn't need to be talking to the police this late at night." Baze tells them, sternly.

"Well, we'll need to take a statement. We need to try to get as much proof as we can, so we can hold this guy." He tells him.

Lux looks at Tasha, and Tasha knew exactly what Lux was about to do. But before she could stop her, Lux was already stepping up. "I can give you my statement." She tells the cop. They all look at her, surprised.

"Lux." Cate starts, but Lux ignores her.

"I use to live there. He did those things to me, too." Lux looks around, embarrassed, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Baze on the otherhand was completely stunned. Not only has it happened to Lauren; it happened to Lux, too. He should have killed that guy, he thought.

"Miss, this is very serious. Don't waste our time now."

Lux shakes her head. "Trust me. I'm not. If this is going to help my sister, then I need to tell my story, too."

Tasha sighs and walks up to the side of Lux. "What the hell. So, do I."

Lux smiles gratefully at Tasha and takes her hand.

"Okay, then. We'll call in the morning and set up something. Thank you for your time." He says shaking Ryan and Baze's hand before leaving.

"Lux, you didn't have to do that." Cate tells her.

"I wanted to."

"I cannot believe this guy. Who hires a guy like that to take care of kids!" Baze says, loudly. He looked like he was about to punch another hole in the banister.

They all look up after hearing a creek in the stairs above. Lauren is standing there looking down at them.

"Sweetie, you should be sleeping." Cate tells her.

Lauren walks down the stairs as slow as she could. Her body was hurting everywhere and it was getting harder and harder to move. Baze walks up to her slowly, so that he didn't scare her. "Come on. You don't need to walk." He says picking her up, gently, as he brings her to the couch. Lauren stares hard at Baze's hand that is in a brace. Baze follows her gaze and smiles. "I'm okay. Don't worry." He tells her looking up at the banister. Lauren looks up too and her face is immediately trenched in concern. "I'm okay." Baze tells her taking her hand. He was happy she wasn't pulling away. That's the last thing he wanted was for Lauren to be scared of him.

Cate and Ryan walk towards the front door. "Okay, well, I guess I'm going to head out. You need to get some sleep, Cate." He tells her, smiling.

Cate smirks, and looks over at Lauren. "Yeah, I don't think that'll be happening for awhile." She tells him. "Um, Ryan, thanks for coming. Helping Lauren, and Baze. I appreciate it, I mean with everything that's going on right now."

Ryan shakes his head. "Don't worry about that. We'll figure things out. I promise." He bends down and kisses Cate softly on her cheek. "Tell Lauren I love her and I'll come check on her soon."

Cate smiles, nodding, as Ryan turns away and leaves.

Cate walks back in the living room and sees Lauren sitting there staring down at her hands. She was too embarrassed for everyone to see her face, so she kept her head down. Cate walks over to her, concerned. She was afraid Lauren was about to drift back into her own little world. "Come on, baby. Let's get you back in bed." Cate says, as she and Baze help Lauren stand up.

"Goodnight, kiddo. Get some rest." Baze says as he kisses Lauren on her head.

Lauren looks up and smiles at him slightly. Cate grabs Lauren around her waist and they slowly walk towards the stairs.

Lux and Tasha are sitting in the dining room, talking.

"Thanks for calling the cops, Tash."

"I had to do something. I couldn't let the bastard get away with it."

Baze walks over to them. He sits down next to them. "You have a lot of explaining to do." He says, patting Lux on her leg.

Lux laughs, softly. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was in the past, so I didn't think it mattered anymore." Lux tells him. "I should have told you."

"It's okay. I'm going to stay the night. I don't want to leave her." Lux nods her head, understanding. "And Tasha, you're staying here tonight. No one is going back to Sunnyvale."

Lux smiles at him, gratefully. "Okay, thanks." Tasha tells him.

"We're going to go to bed." Lux says. Baze stands up and kisses Lux on her head.

"I'll be on the couch."

They say their goodnights then head to their sleeping areas.

Upstairs; Cate is putting Lauren to bed. She pulls the covers tightly around Lauren and kisses her gently on her cheek.

"I love you, baby." Cate tells her.

Lauren smiles slighty up at Cate. Cate was getting worried that Lauren wasn't speaking much but she figured it was much to be expected considering everything. Cate starts to turn away, but stops when Lauren jumps up.

"You're not staying!" Lauren asks her with panic in her voice.

Cate brushes the strands of hair out of Lauren's face, soothingly. "I'm just going to go change into something more comfortable."

"I'll go with you." Lauren says quietly. She felt a little embarrassed not wanting Cate to be away from her, but she couldn't help it, she was scared.

Cate smiles. "How about we go in my bed tonight?" She asks her. Lauren nods her head slowly, taking Cate's hand. Cate helps Lauren get up and they walk out to Cate's room. Lauren climbs in slowly into Cate's bed, settling herself comfortably under the covers. Cate laughs to herself, thinking back to when Lauren was a little girl. She would always sleep with Cate until Cate had to bribe her to sleep in her own bed, thinking that she was getting too old to sleep with Mom. Cate changes her clothes quickly, then settles into bed next to Lauren. Cate couldn't help but smile as Lauren snuggles closely to her, resting her head on Cate's chest. Cate wraps her arms protectively around her daughter even though she knew her being there wouldn't keep the dreams away. She could tell Lauren was still trying to fight off sleep, but it was definitely the longest night that all of them ever had, and they all needed sleep.

"I'm right here, sweetie. Just close your eyes. I'll still be here when you wake up." Cate says, lovingly.

After she feels Lauren finally relax and her breathing becomes steady, Cate knew Lauren was finally sleeping. Even though it wasn't peacefully, Cate made sure to not take her arms off from being around her daughter. She stroked Lauren's hair, lovingly, as she closes her eyes for the first time that night; slipping into sleep herself.

Morning came pretty fast, and surprisingly Lauren woke up before anyone. She turned her head and noticed that Cate was still there, like she promised. Without waking up Cate, Lauren slips out of bed, slowly. She was still in a lot of pain, and moving around was her toughest battle yet. But she still felt like Sunnyvale was on her, even though Cate cleaned her up the best way that she could, so she walks into Cate's bathroom deciding to shower. As soon as the water came on, Cate jumped up. It took her a little while to figure out that Lauren was the one in the bathroom, and she was grateful that she slept the rest of the night. Cate gets out of bed, and she was about to go in the bathroom to check on Lauren, but decided against it, figuring that Lauren may just want some time alone considering she didn't wake her up.

Downstairs; Lux and Tasha are in the kitchen making breakfast. Cate walks in sniffing the air.

"This house has a very unusual smell lingering around." She jokes.

Lux and Tasha smile. "It's called food, Cate. Cooked food." Lux tells her.

Cate laughs. "Since when do you cook?"

Tasha rolls her eyes. "She doesn't."

"Tasha does most of the cooking. Unfortunately, I can't cook worth a crap. Like you." Lux says, grinning sarcastically.

Cate mocks her smile. "What are you two doing up so early anyway?"

Lux walks closer to Cate. "Well, we really need to talk to you and Baze about something." She says seriously. "But I don't think he's ever waking up." Lux laughs, looking over at Baze who is halfway off the couch.

Cate looks at Lux confused, then over at Baze. "Wait. Baze slept here?" She walks over to the couch and throws a pillow at his head.

Baze jumps up in ninja mode, but he breathes out in relief when he sees Cate. "Oh, it's just you."

"Yeah, it's just me. I can't believe you slept here."

Baze stands up and puts his shirt on. "A house full of women? I couldn't just leave, Cate."

Cate smirks, amused at his sweetness. "Thanks, Baze."

Baze smiles back, nodding. He looks around and notices that Lauren isn't in the room. "Where's Lauren?"

"Oh, she's in the shower." Cate tells him as she walks back into the kitchen.

"How'd she sleep?" Baze asks, following her.

Cate shrugs. "I guess okay. She didn't wake me up or anything."

Baze looks around and notices the breakfast Lux and Tasha were cooking. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Cooking, duh." Lux says.

Baze and Cate look at eachother amusingly. "Why? What do you want?" Baze asks, sensing there was more to why they were doing what they were doing.

Tasha and Lux exchange looks before turning towards Cate and Baze. "Alright, we need your help." She says giving up.

"With what?" Cate asks, concerned.

"Tasha can't go back to Sunnyvale. You both said it yourself. So, she needs a place to live, and I would really love it if it was somewhere in this district." Lux explains to them.

Cate and Baze sigh and look eachother once more. "Yeah, she can't go back there." She tells Baze.

"Listen, kiddo. We'll figure out something. I'll call Fern and we'll see where things go from there."

"But for now Tasha will stay here. Is that alright with you?" Cate asks Tasha.

Tasha smiles. "Sounds great. Thanks, guys."

Happy with how things turned out that morning, everyone went on with what they were doing. But while Tasha and Lux were setting up breakfast on the table, Cate realized that it had already been over an hour and Lauren was still not out of the shower.

"I better go check on Lauren. She's been in the shower for a long time now." Cate says getting up, but Lux stops her.

"No, Cate, wait. I'll go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go eat breakfast. I'll take care of her." Cate smiles, as she rubs Lux's arm, lovingly, before she turned away. Lux walks upstairs, nervously. She had gone through this before and if Lauren was anything like her, then she was about to find Lauren in the same position she was in.

Lux walks up to the bathroom door and knocks gently. She could hear the water running but she couldn't hear much movement going on inside. So, she opens the door, quietly, and walks in. Lux wasn't sure if she was ready for what she was about to see, but she had to do it. She pulls the shower curtain aside to reveal Lauren sitting on the floor, her knees to her chest, and a rag in her hand; rubbing her skin furiously all over the place. Lux wasn't sure how long this was going on for but Lauren's skin was breaking and she was starting to bleed. Lauren looks up at Lux, and all Lux could see was fear, and she looked so lost.

"I can't get him off." Lauren mumbles, quietly, as she keeps rubbing herself with the rag. "He won't come off." She repeats.

Lux looked sadly at her helpless baby sister. All she wanted to do was take her pain away, and she would go through everything again just to do it. But Lux doesn't think twice when she bends down and takes the rag away from Lauren. She stops the shower and grabs a towel, wrapping it over Lauren's naked body.

"He won't come off." Lauren says again.

Lux sighs, as she helps Lauren out of the tub. She wraps the towel more securely around Lauren's body, and sits her down on the toilet. She glances quickly at Lauren's broken skin, and reaches down in the cabinet to pull out the first aid kit. Lauren just stares blankley ahead as Lux starts cleaning her wounds. Lux knew Lauren was feeling embarrassed; she did, too, when it happened to her, but she didn't have anyone to take care of her back then, and Lauren does. So, she was going to do whatever it took to help and get Lauren back to her old self.

"There you go. Good as new." Lux says, grinning. Lauren looks down at her bandaged arm and then back at Lux.

"I'm sorry." She says with no emotion.

Lux shakes her head, confused. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Lauren."

"I shouldn't have went there. I should have listened to you."

Lux takes Lauren's hands. "Hey, you were just curious. I don't blame you, I probably would have wondered, too. But what Lawrence did.." Lauren grimaced at hearing his name. "..it wasn't your fault. Just let us help you get better."

Lauren smiles slightly at Lauren, and nods her head. Satisfied with just that, Lux takes Lauren in her arms and hugs her. "I shouldn't have told you about Sunnyvale. I'm sorry." Lux says pulling away and looking at Lux.

But Lauren just looked down and stared back at her bandages. Cate comes in quickly, after waiting for Lux and Lauren to get downstairs, but they were taking forever so she was becoming worried.

"Hey, guys. What's taking so long?" She asks. Lauren tries to hide her bandages, but Cate sees them before she could. Lux hesitates and steps back from Lauren a little. "What happened!" Cate rushes over to Lauren and kneels in front of her, taking a look at her arms.

"I'm okay." Lauren tells her, quietly.

"No, you're not." Cates says. She looks up at Lux. "What happened?"

Lux sighs. "Um, I came in here and she was in the shower, but she just washed herself a little too hard, hence the bandages." Lux points out.

Cate turns back to Lauren and brushes the strands of hair out of her face. "Oh, sweetie."

Lauren tries her best to put on a brave face. "I'm fine, Mom. I promise."

"I'm going to go get you some clothes." Lux says leaving them alone.

Cate kisses Lauren gently on her forehead. "Come on. Let's go dry your hair." She helps Lauren up and they walk out of the bathroom.

In Cate's room; Lauren is sitting in front of a mirror in the clothes Lux had brought in. Cate is standing up behind her brushing Lauren's hair. Cate could tell that Lauren was having a difficult time looking at herself in the mirror.

"Lauren.." Cate says sitting down behind Lauren and rubbing her arms, gently. "I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened at Sunnyvale." Lauren closes her eyes when Cate mentions Sunnyvale. Cate turns Lauren around to face her. "Hey, look at me." Lauren opens her eyes, and as soon as she did, tears rolled down. "None of this was your fault. Do you understand me?" Cate asks her sternly.

Lauren closes her eyes as she lets her tears spill out. "When is it going to go away?" She cries.

"Oh, baby.." Cate quickly pulls Lauren into her arms and holds her tightly as Lauren cries into Cate's shoulder.

Even though Cate hated seeing Lauren hurting like this, she was also glad that Lauren was letting out some kinda of emotion. Lauren is a lot like her. She keeps everything in until it all just comes out at once, and it isn't pretty.

Downstairs; Lux, Tasha, and Baze are sitting at the dining room table when Cate and Lauren come down. Baze looks up and is immediately over to Lauren's side.

"Hey, kiddo. How you feeling?" He asks, reaching over to touch Lauren's shoulder, but she flinches before he could touch her. Cate and Baze exchange looks as Baze pulls back, and Cate walks Lauren over to a chair at the table.

"What do you want to eat, baby?" Cate asks, grabbing a plate.

"I'm not hungry." Lauren tells her.

"You need to eat something. Humor me and just take a few bites." Cate says, putting a plate of food in front of Lauren.

Lauren just stares at the food. Baze looks at her, and he was competely sad to see how lost Lauren looked. And he was still pissed off at the bastard for making Lauren scared of her own father. Lux and Tasha watch as Lauren just picks at her food. They couldn't blame her for not being hungry, they were like that, too, at one point.

"So, I called Fern." Baze tells Cate. "She wants us to go by later, and discuss a few things."

Cate nods her head, and looks over at Lux. "Lux, you'll be alright with taking care of things around here?" She asks, mainly talking about Lauren.

Lux knew exactly what she meant, and gives her a small smile. "Of course. We'll be fine." She tells her.

The phone rings, and Cate picks it up.

"Hello? Uh, yeah, sure." Cate says hanging up and looking at Baze. "That was the detective." Baze stands up. "They need us to go down there and give a statement."

Everyone looks at Lauren who is distracting herself with the food in front of her. Baze walks over to Lauren and kneels down on the side of her. "Are you okay with this, Lauren?"

Lauren looks around at everyone staring at her, then back at her food. Lux grabs Lauren's hand.

"We'll do it together." She tells her. Lauren looks up at her and nods her head, agreeing.

At the station; Cate, Baze, Lauren, Lux, and Tasha all walk into a little room. Lauren is holding Cate and Lux's hands as tightly as she could.

"Okay, first we need you to identify the man to make sure we have the right one." The detective tells them.

Lauren looks over at Cate, nervously. The last thing she ever wanted to do was see Lawrence again. Cate kisses Lauren on her forehead, knowing exactly what Lauren is worried about.

"Will he be able to see us?" She asks.

The detective shakes his head. "No. It's just a one way mirror. Don't worry. Are we ready?" He asks, specifically to Lauren. Lux grabs onto Lauren's hand tighter to let her know that she was there and they are doing this together. They both step up to the mirror as the cops let five guys into the other room. Lauren couldn't watch, and Lux knew it was going to be hard. So, she pulls Lauren closer to her and holds her by her waist as they wait for them to signal for the men to turn around. "Okay, turn around." He says into the microphone. All five men turn around to face the mirror. The first, second, and third turn around, but neither of them were Lawrence. When the fourth one turned, Lauren immediately backed up into Baze. She flashed to Lawrence throwing her on his bed and getting on top of her. She jumped when she hit her dad, and started to freak out. Cate grabs Lauren and pulls her to her.

"It's okay, baby. He can't hurt you. We're right here." Lauren couldn't steady her breathing, freaking out both Cate and Baze.

"That's him!" Lux yells.

Baze scoops up Lauren in his arms as fast as he could and they run out of the room.

Outside; Baze sits Lauren on his lap and Cate sits down in front of them as Lux and Tasha run over.

"Lauren, I need you to breathe slower, sweetie. It's okay." Cate tells her. Baze rubs Lauren's back but as soon as he touched her Lauren was jumping into Cate's arms. Cate wraps her arms protectively around Lauren's shaking body as she looks up at Baze with an apologetic look. He just sighs, wondering when all of this was going to end and Lauren was going to trust him again.

In the detective's office; Lauren and Lux are sitting together at a table. Cate and Baze are on both sides of their daughters.

"Okay, Lauren. I'm going to need you to explain to me what happened at Sunnyvale. What did Lawrence do to you?" He asks.

Lauren closes her eyes as images started to resurface back into her mind. Cate rubs Lauren's arm, gently, as Lux takes her sister's hand. "We're right here, baby."

"Um, he, uh," She stutters.

"It's okay. Take your time." He tells her.

Lauren looks down, fiddiling with her bandages on her arms. "I was just there to get away." Lauren flashes back to Lawrence smacking her around in the face. "I just wanted to see where Lux came from." Silent tears start to fall down Lauren's cheeks. Lux holds onto her hand tighter, assuring her that she was there. "He-He said I remind him of her. That I look like her." Lux turns to Baze who grabs her other hand, silently telling her it's okay. She was okay now.

Lauren looks at Cate desperately for her to help her. She didn't want to go on. Cate smiles nodding for her to continue. "You're doing great, sweetie." She tells her.

"I didn't want to go. I tried to get away, but he just kept pulling and pulling." Lauren cries. Baze and Cate exchange worried glances towards eachother.

"Then what would he do?" The detective asks her.

"He brought me to his room. He would throw me against the wall a few times, an-and then he'd tell me to clean myself up." Lauren flashes to Lawrence pulling her clothes off of her, furiously. "He-he would make a bath, but it was just really hot. Really hot." She says looking down at one of the burns on her arm.

"Did he put you in the water, Lauren?" Lauren nods her head slowly. "Then what would he do?"

"He'd put me on the bed." She tells him.

"Then what?" Lauren flashes to Lawrence climbing on top of her. "Would he touch you, Lauren?" Lauren starts breathing heavily at the image of Lawrence's strong arms holding her down. "Lauren, did he rape you?"

By then everyone had tears in their eyes, as they watched Lauren desperately try to control herself, knowing that she was thinking back to the horrific things Lawrence did to her. Lauren looks up at the detective, then over at Baze. "Daddy, make it stop." She cries, surprising everyone.

Without hestitation Baze gets up and grabs Lauren, picking her up and leaving the room. "Hey, we're not done."

"I think you have all that you need, Detective." Cate tells him. "Come on Lux; Tasha." They all walk out following Baze out to the car.

At the house; Lauren is sitting on the couch, not wanting to be alone upstairs, underneath a blanket holding her stuffed monkey and playing with her bracelet. After they had left the station, Lauren was back to being distant towards Baze. They are all in the kitchen looking at Lauren and talking about what happened earlier.

"Lux, did he do those things to you?" Baze asks her.

Lux nods her head. "But not just to me."

"I can't believe he did that to her. He ra-raped our daughter." Cate could barely say the word; she was incredibly stunned. Baze wraps his arm around Cate.

"He never did that to me. I don't understand why he did it to Lauren!" Lux says trying to figure it out.

Tasha sighs. "He did it to me, too." She says quietly. They look at Tasha, surprised. "Just one time though."

Cate walks over to her. "It still isn't right." She tells her, sternly.

"I know."

Baze looks at his watch. "Okay, we need to go talk to Fern."

"Uh, okay. Lux; Tasha, we'll only be an hour at the most. Are you two okay here with her or do you need me to call Ryan?" Cate asks.

"No! We'll be fine." Lux assures her.

Cate walks into the living room and over to Lauren. "Lauren, Dad and I are going to head over to talk to Fern now. Will you be okay with Lux and Tasha, or do you want me to stay? Because I won't go. I'll stay here with you."

Lauren looks up at her mom. "I'm okay." She says quietly. "Help Tasha."

Cate smiles sincerely at her daughter, and she gets up and kisses Lauren gently on her cheek. "I love you. We'll be back soon."

Baze smiles slighty at Lauren before following Cate out the door. Lux walks over to the couch and sits down next to Lauren. "So, what do you want to do?" She asks, trying to light the mood.

In Baze's truck they are driving silently until Cate breaks it.

"What should we do, Baze? Both of them, no three of them were abused by this sick man! I can't just sit back and let them go through the torture of remembering on their own. Especially Lauren. She's so young and confused. She doesn't really understand any of this. Baze, are you listening to me!" Cate asks.

Baze breathes out the breath he had been holding in. "I'm listening, Cate. I don't know what to do. I don't know how we can help her. She won't even let me help her. Lauren's afraid of me."

Cate looks at him sadly. "Baze, you know she loves you. You know she doesn't mean it when she pulls away."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe she should go talk to someone."

Cate raises her eyebrows. "Like a therapist?"

"Yeah. It might help her, since it's hard for her to talk to us about it. It might be easier for her to talk to someone who isn't her family."

Cate looks straight ahead. "I don't know. We'll talk to her about it."

"It doesn't hurt to try."

At the house; Lux and Tasha are eating pizza that they ordered as Lauren just sits there.

"Dude, pizza is going fast. You might want to get in on it." Tasha tells Lauren.

Lauren shakes her head, slowly. "I'm not hungry."

"Lauren, you haven't ate in like a whole day. I know you love to eat." Lux jokes.

Lauren looks at her with no emotion. "Three days."

Lux looks at her confused. "What?"

"I haven't ate in three days." Lauren says looking away, embarrassed.

Lux and Tasha exchanged worried looks. "Uh, okay, you need to eat. That is definitely not healthy." Lux says putting pizza on a plate and handing it to Lauren. Lauren sighs and starts taking small bites. Lux smiles, relieved. "Thank you."

Lauren looks up curiously at Tasha, who isn't really paying much mind to anything but her pizza. "How'd you get over it?" She asks. Lux turns towards Tasha, and kicks her on her leg. Tasha jumps up and looks at Lux and Lauren.

"Oh, me? I'm not over it." She says quickly. "It's not something you can really get over."

"You look like you did."

Lux sighs. "You just learn to live around it."

"Yeah. I mean, it'll always be in the back of your mind, but someday you have to move on, find something worth living for." Tasha tells her.

Lauren puts her pizza back on the table. "I don't think I do."

Lux looks up quickly, confused. "Yes, you do, Lauren." She says sternly getting Lauren's attention. "You have a lot to live for. You have Cate, Baze, me, Ryan, even Tasha. You have a lot of people in your life that care about you. So, don't think twice about not having anything to live for."

"Oh, and that Jake guy." Tasha reminds them.

Lauren looks at both of them confused. "Jake? What are you talking about?"

Lux looks at her, nervously. "Um, Jake stayed around here until we found you. He tried looking for you, Lauren. He was so worried. It was kinda sweet."

"Wait. He seen me like this? Bruised face and all? Are you serious?" Lux and Tasha nod their head. "I can't believe it! I can never show my face ever again! I'm never leaving the house." She tells them.

Lux and Tasha both roll their eyes. "Oh, you're being a little dramatic." Lux laughs.

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be embarrassed. It was sweet how worried he was about you." Tasha tells her.

"Oh, and don't worry. I gave him a piece of my mind about what he did to you."

Lauren sighs. Even though she thought it was sweet, too, she couldn't figure out if he was just doing it because he was feeling guilty or he really did like her. It was all confusing, and she felt even more embarrassed that Lux talk to him. "Great. And my sister yelled at him. Just great." She says sarcastically. Lux just laughs, relieved that Lauren was starting to show her old self again. She reaches over and pulls Lauren into a side hug.

The next day; Cate and Lauren are sharing a chair at the table, and Lux, Tasha, Baze, and Fern are sitting around the table as well.

"Tasha, even though we are granting you to be on your own, and Cate and Baze aren't going to be your legal guardians, they will be handling your expenses, like food, and your living arrangements." Fern explains.

"Which means what? Where am I living?" Tasha asks.

"Um, in apartment not too far from here. Baze and I found it, so it's in the school district and close to Lux. You'll also be joining the girls at Westmonte." Cate tells her. "Oh, and I got you this." She hands Tasha a cell phone. "We are going to handle your bill, too, but I'm giving you this so that we'll be able to get in touch with you, and so you and Lux will be able to talk."

Tasha and Lux smile at eachother. Tasha couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I can't believe you guys are doing this."

Lux smiles at her parents, lovingly. "I can."

Late that night; everyone was exhausted getting Tasha settled into her new apartment, so though it seemed like everyone was asleep they weren't. Baze had slept over again, not having the heart to leave the girls there alone another night, but he couldn't sleep. So, he was up watching tv and eating a bag of chips. Lauren made her way slowly down the stairs, surprised to see that her dad was still up at three in the morning. It was another night of not sleeping and she didn't have the heart to wake up Cate again. She had been through so much herself, by taking care of Lauren, and so Lauren knew she needed her sleep. Lauren felt bad for pushing Baze away like she did, but she really didn't mean to. She was just scared, not at her dad, because she could never be afraid of him. She trusted him with her life, but Lauren was just scared in general. She walks into the living room over to where Baze is sitting on the couch staring at the tv. When she gets closer Baze notices and looks at her confused. Lauren just sits down next to him, and both without saying anything knew exactly what eachother needed. Baze wraps his arm around Lauren protectively as she rests her head down on his chest. They both sit there the rest of the night watching tv without saying anything. Just enjoying eachother's presence. 


	18. Not Afraid

It was morning; and something didn't feel right. Lauren jumps out of her bed and rushes to her bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet when she emptied out everything she had in her stomach into the toilet. She did it about four times until Cate ran in.

"Lauren, what happened!" Cate asks, worried.

"I don't know." Lauren says weakly, breaking Cate's heart at hearing how helpless Lauren sounded. She grabs a wet rag and sits down on the side of Lauren. "I guess this is what I get, huh?" Lauren jokes.

"Hey, stop it. Come here." Lauren leans back onto Cate's chest and closes her eyes as Cate wipes her face with the wet rag. She covers Lauren's ears with her hands as she yells, "Baze!" Lauren looks up at Cate. Cate sighed at how drained Lauren looked. "Did you sleep at all?" Lauren shakes her head, looking away embarrassed. "Why didn't you come get me?" But before Lauren could answer Baze and Lux run in.

"What! What's wrong!" He asks, quickly.

"I don't know. Lauren just started throwing up." Cate tells him. "We need to get her to the hospital."

"What! No!" Lauren shouts, nervously.

"Honey, it's okay. We just need to get you checked out. Baze?" She says looking up at him.

"Yeah, okay. Come on, kiddo." He picks up Lauren and they all run out to the car.

At the hospital; Lauren is laying on a bed with Cate and Lux sitting on the side of her and Baze pacing back and forth in front of them.

"Mom, I don't need to be here." Lauren says, trying to get up.

Cate stands up and lays her back down. "Yes, you do. We didn't get you checked out the other day, and you're throwing up now? You need to let a doctor check you."

Lauren looks at Lux, who had the same matching face as she did. They were both scared and weren't exactly sure what the doctor was going to find.

As soon as the door opened, all eyes were on the doctor. "Hi, I'm Dr. Parker. And you must be Lauren Bazile." Lauren looks at her nervously, not saying anything.

"Cate Cassidy. I'm her mother. And thats Nate Bazile, her dad, and her sister Lux." Cate and Baze shake Dr. Parker's hand while Lux just turns away, looking back at Lauren. She hated Doctors just as much as Lauren did right now.

"It's nice to meet you all. I hear that Lauren has been through a few things these past few days."

"Uh, yes, she has." Cate says. "And we haven't had the chance to get her checked out, yet."

"I understand. Lauren, you've been throwing up?"

Lauren closes her eyes trying to block out the Doctor's voice. "Only this morning." Lux answers for her.

"Okay, well I'll just do a regular examination to make sure everything is okay." She tells them. "Lauren, do you want your dad to stay in here?" Baze and Lauren look at eachother, and Lauren nods her head. Baze smiles slightly and walks over to Lauren, standing behind her. He kisses her gently on her forehead, glad that she wasn't pushing him away anymore. "Okay, then. I'm just going to lift you legs, alright?"

Lauren closes her eyes tightly, struggling not to cry, nodding her head. Cate brushes Lauren's hair with her hand, and kissing her on her cheek. "You're doing great, baby. We're right here."

Lux grabs Lauren's hand, letting her know that she was there, too. "Okay, here we go." Dr. Parker lefts Lauren's legs on the stirrups. Lauren pulls back slightly, grimacing as the doctor touches her.

Lauren flashes to Lawrence spreading her legs, furiously. "Stop!" She shouts, pulling herself back away from the doctor. Cate, Baze, and Lux hover around her.

"Hey, you're okay. You're okay!" Cate gets in front of Lauren hiding Dr. Parker's view from her. "Just look at me, baby. I'm not going anywhere. No one is going to hurt you, okay?" Lauren does at she's told and looks Cate in the eyes. Baze wipes her tears away with his thumb. He looks back up at the doctor and nods for her to continue. She starts to examine Lauren again, and Lauren jumps but keeps looking at Cate, not taking her eyes off of her mom. Baze looks at Lux who is staring down at her hand, which Lauren is holding very tightly, and he takes Lux's free hand in his own. "You're doing great, sweetie."

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Parker puts Lauren's legs down gently back on the bed. "Alright, Miss. Lauren, we are all finished."

Lauren breathes out in relief finally letting her cries out. She puts her arms around Cate, holding on tight. Cate smiles and lifts Lauren up in her arms. "You did great, baby. All finished." She kisses Lauren on her forehead as Lauren cries into her shoulder.

"I'm going to give you a few minutes, but then I'd like to talk to you and Mr. Bazile in my office." Cate nods her head as the doctor walks out of the room.

Lux watches Lauren break down into Cate's shoulders. She really wished Lauren didn't have to go through it. Going to the hospital felt like an everyday thing to Lux back then. Getting checked was what she was use to and she'd do it again to save her sister.

After they finally got Lauren to calm down, Cate and Baze left to go talk to the doctor while Lauren stayed with Lux as she helped her back into her regular clothes and out of the hospital gown.

"They could make these things more fashionable." Lux jokes.

Lauren smiles a little, looking up at Lux. "What if something happened, Lux?"

Lux looks at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Like what if I'm-"

Lux puts her hand up to stop Lauren. "No. You're not. Don't even say those words."

"But what if I am, Lux. What am I suppose to do?" Lauren cries.

"You're not, Lauren. I promise you, you're not." Lauren sat there staring at Lux, curiously, wondering why Lux felt so sure about it. Lux smiles. "Uh, Jake texted."

"What? What did he say?"

"He just asked how you were doing, and that he misses you."

Lauren shakes her head. "I don't even want to see him again."

"Why?"

"I just can't, Lux. It's too hard." Lauren tells her, sadly.

"Hey, he understands. He'll be ready when you are."

But Lauren wasn't so sure if she would ever be ready.

In Dr. Parker's office; Cate and Baze are sitting down in front of her desk, waiting impatiently.

"Okay, well, Lauren is not pregnant." Cate and Baze smile in relief and take eachother's hand without realizing it. "But she has multiple abrasions adjacent to the external genitalia and evidence of deep scarring.

"What does that mean? Is she going to be okay?" Baze asks.

Dr. Parker frowns. "Lauren has a lot of injuries and the scarring will heal overtime, but you should be worried emotionally. Does Lauren have a Psychiatrist?"

Cate and Baze look at eachother and shake their heads. "Uh, no. But we're talking about it." Cate tells her.

"Good. She's going to need all the help she can get. Just get ready. You might have not seen the worst of it."

Cate and Baze both sigh, struggling to keep themselves together before walking back into Lauren's room. If Dr. Parker was right about not seeing the worst of it, they weren't too sure if they were going to be able to handle it. Cate hugs Lauren, lovingly, smiling at her. "Let's go home." She whispers.

Lauren smiles, nodding, as she looks up at Baze who picks her up in his arms holding her closely to him. Lauren wraps her arms around her dad's neck and rests her head on his shoulders. Cate wraps her arm around Lux, protectively, following Baze and Lauren out of the room.

Once they reached Cate's house; Lauren had fallen asleep in the backseat, exhausted by everything that had happened that morning. Lux and Cate get out of the car, as Baze opens Lauren's side and takes a sleeping Lauren out. He brings her inside and lays her down on the couch.

"Uh, okay, well, I'm going to head home." Baze tells them.

"Are you going to come back?" Lux asks him.

Baze smiles and pulls Lux into a side hug. "Yeah, I'll be back, kiddo. I have to take care of a few things at the bar then I'll come back again and check on Lauren."

"Thanks, Baze." Cate says, genuinely.

Baze reaches over and hugs Cate. "Of course, Cate." He turns around and kisses Lauren on her forehead. "I'll be back."

Cate and Lux watch Baze walk out. Cate turns around and goes into the kitchen. She starts cleaning up while Lux follows her in.

"Cate?" Cate looks up at Lux.

"Yeah?"

"Um, is Lauren...ya know?" Lux asks, nervously.

Cate walks over to Lux and smiles. "She's fine, Lux. Is that what you two were so worried about?"

"Weren't you?"

Cate rolls here eyes and continues to clean up. "Yeah, kinda. She just has a lot of healing to do. Physically and emotionally. But we're going to help her." Cate assures her.

Lux nods her head as she looks over at Lauren. "I'm sorry."

Cate looks up, confused. "What are you sorry for, Lux?"

"For all of this." She says sitting down. "I shouldn't have told Lauren about Sunnyvale. And if I didn't tell you and Baze about Jake then maybe she wouldn't have ran away. Or if I would have followed her to practice. I don't know! Maybe me coming back was a mistake!" Lux rambles.

Cate walks over to Lux and takes her in her arms. "You coming back was NOT a mistake, Lux. You coming back was the best thing for this family. You brought us closer than we ever were. And that day Lauren went to Sunnyvale; she was mad at all of us. Not just you. Lauren was just curious about your life, just like I am. I'm sorry I let those things happen to you."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't yours either. Lux, don't beat yourself up about this, okay?" Lux nods her head. "So, have you talked to Tasha lately? Is she doing okay with being by herself?" Cate asks, putting dishes in the sink.

Lux smiles. "Yeah, she's fine. She's used to being by herself. Thanks again, Cate. For helping Tasha."

Cate smiles back. "Of course, Lux. You two have been through so much lately. I want to make things okay."

They suddenly both turn when they hear Lauren shouting from the couch. "No! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Lauren yells, crying. Lauren is kicking and screaming when Cate and Lux run over to her. "No! No!"

"Lauren! Wake up, sweetie! It's just a dream! It's just a dream! Wake up!" Lauren jumps up breathing heavily. Cate brushes Lauren's hair out of her face. "Hey, shh. It was just a dream." Cate hugs Lauren, whispering soothing words in her ear, as she looks up at Lux.

"It was real." She tells them.

Cate pulls away and looks at Lauren. "No, it wasn't real, sweetie."

"It's just us here, Lauren." Lux tells her.

Lauren shakes her head. "I'm telling you, it was real!" Cate and Lux look at Lauren disturbed. "It was real."

One Week Later

At the Psychiatrist's office; Lauren is sitting on a couch while a woman stared at her with pen and paper in hand. Lauren was feeling very uncomfortable and was currently thinking of the many ways she could get out of it when the Doctor would turn her head. But she just kept staring. It had been over an hour and she was still staring.

The Doctor looks at her watch and sighs. "Okay, Lauren, it looks like our time is up."

Lauren grabs her jacket and walks out of the office as fast as she could; passing Cate and Baze, who stand up; looking concerned as Lauren goes outside. The Doctor comes out, shaking her head.

"How did it go?" Cate asks.

"She still isn't talking."

"Well, what should we do? Should we keep bringing her?" Baze asks.

"Oh, yes! Don't stop bringing her. Eventually, she'll get so aggitated that she'll start speaking. But you said that your other daughter went through the same things, correct?"

"Uh, yeah, Lux. Why?" Cate asks, confused.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe next session you could bring them both in. Maybe she'll feel more comfortable knowing that her sister is there and they share something deeper than just having the same parents."

Baze and Cate exchange looks. "Uh, yeah, sure." Cate tells her.

They all shake the Doctor's hand. "Thank you." Baze says before they follow where Lauren left. "Do you think it's a good idea?"

"It doesn't hurt to try." Cate says looking over at Lauren who is leaning against the car looking very annoyed.

Outside in the quad; Jones and Lux are sitting at a table.

"So, how's Lauren doing? Any better?" Jones asks.

Lux sighs. "I don't know. I mean physically she looks better. Everything is starting to fade, but emotionally not too great."

"What you mean? Is she still having nightmares?"

"Uh, off and on. She doesn't talk about them anymore, or about anything really. It's kinda scaring all of us, which is why Cate and Baze have been bringing Lauren to a Psychiatrist." She explains.

"Yeah? And how's that going?"

Lux laughs. "She isn't talking there either."

"She'll talk when she's ready then."

Lux smiles at him. "Yeah. She will. So, I haven't seen Jake around lately. Has he talked to you?"

"Not really. He's worried though." Jones takes Lux's hand. "So, am I."

Lux laughs, turning away, embarrassed that she may have been blushing. Jones just smiles at her.

Upstairs; Lauren is in her bathroom staring at her faded bruised face in the mirror. It had already been over a week and she felt like things were getting worse. Her parents figured going to Psychiatrist would help her talk about things but lately, after everything, she wasn't sure if anyone could help her. After ten more minutes of staring at herself in the mirror, Lauren was taken out of her thoughts by the doorbell.

"Lauren! Someone's here to see you!" Lux yells. Lauren rolls her eyes and heads downstairs. "It's Jake." Lux says, happily, which annoyed Lauren. Lauren walks up to the door and looks at Jake for a second.

"Hey, Lauren." He says.

Lauren slams the door in his face, and walks into the living room. Lux stood there stunned at Lauren's actions. "What is wrong with you!" Lux follows Lauren.

"I don't want to see him, Lux." She says sitting down on the couch.

"Okay, but you didn't have to slam the door in his face. Lauren, he hasn't seen you in over a week. He's worried about you." Lux tells her.

"I'm not anything for him to worry about. I'm not his girlfriend. He made that pretty clear."

"He was lying, Lauren. He was just worried about the age difference. And Cate and Baze are okay with it!"

"What? So, you're taking his side now!" Lauren yells.

"I'm not taking anyone's side! Maybe you should just let people care about you, instead of slamming doors in their faces!" Lux walks away, leaving Lauren to sulk on the couch.

Upstairs in Lux's room; Lux is sitting on her bed, looking through her phone, when Cate walks in.

"Hey."

Lux looks up and puts her phone down. "Hey, Cate."

"I heard yelling. What was that all about?" Cate asks. She walks over and sits next to Lux on her bed.

Lux lets out a deep breath. "Lauren and I got in a fight."

"About what?"

"Jake came over and she just slammed the door right in his face. Without talking to him or anything."

Cate sighs. "She's going through a lot, Lux."

"I know that. That's why I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but Cate, she can't just slam doors in people's faces. I mean especially the ones that are trying to help her. She won't talk to me, you, or Baze, and not even Jake. The guy she use to constantly talk about. Even the Psychiatrist isn't working."

"I know. We just have to be patient. Which reminds me, the Doctor thinks it would be a good idea if you went with Lauren to one of her sessions." Lux looks confused. "To help her talk. You both went through the same things and maybe with you being there, Lauren might start talking. What do you think?" Cate asks with a little bit of hope in her voice.

Lux turns away for a second then back at Cate; smiling. "If you think it might help." Cate jumps up in excitement and hugs Lux. "BUT don't get mad at me if she doesn't start talking."

"I won't. You're a really great sister, Lux. I'm so happy Lauren has you."

"Yeah, well, tell her that." Lux jokes. "But seriously, Cate, thanks for everything you've been doing for me. I know after the wedding that almost happened, you've been going through a lot. But it means a lot to me to see that you would put that aside to help me and Lauren."

Cate looks at Lux in awe. "Of course I would, Lux. You're my daughters. I'd do anything for the both of you."

"Well, good, because sometimes you need to figure out what you want, Cate. For both of us. Me and Lauren. We need you to figure out which one you want in your life because seriously, it's weighing on us, too." Lux laughs.

Cate smiles, lovingly, at Lux, and puts her arm around her. "Thank you, Lux. I promise I'll figure it out."

Later that day, Lux decided she should probably aplogize to Lauren. She didn't mean for things to end up like that and maybe Lauren just wasn't ready to have Jake around yet. Lauren was still scared, and having Jake around might make things worse. So, Lux, knocks gently on Lauren's bedroom door, but is confused when she didn't get an answer, or hear any movement going around. She opens the door and sees that the bedroom is empty.

"Cate!" Lux yells running into the kitchen.

Cate looks up to see Lux's frightened face. "What is it, Lux? What's wrong?" She asks, concerned.

"La-Lauren isn't in her room!"

"What!"

"I can't find her, Cate! We got into a fight! What if.." Lux was panicking.

"No! Lux, don't think like that. She probably went to Baze's. Let me call him." Cate says, trying to stay calm for Lux, but inside she was panicking just like her. Cate picks up her phone and dials Baze's number.

"Uh, hello?" Baze answers.

"Baze, please tell me Lauren is with you."

Baze looks around his loft. He was pretty sure Lauren didn't sneak one on him. He went to Lauren's room to make sure she wasn't there, and he was right. He looked at the empty room, and started to panic himself. "Stay calm, Cate! I'm going to go check around town. You and Lux stay there incase she shows up." Baze hangs up the phone and grabs his jacket. He couldn't believe it was happening again.

"Should we call the police?" Lux asks Cate.

Cate shakes her head, and rubbing her forehead trying to think. "'No, no. I'm sure she is just at the park, or maybe she decided to go talk to Jake. Uh, Lux, yeah, call Jake." Lux gets up, nodding, and runs to her room to get her phone. "Don't do this to me again, Lauren." Cate says to herself.

At the soccer field; Lauren is staring in the middle of the field with a soccer ball in her hands. Baze drives up and runs over to her. He picks her up, spinning around, breathing out in relief.

"Lauren, you scared us to death! Tell someone next time when you leave the house! Okay!" He shouts. Lauren just stares at him, blankly. "Lauren, are you listening to me! Your mom and sister are freaking out!" Baze paces, laughing. He couldn't believe Lauren was doing this. "Lauren!" He yells, trying to get her attention again.

"I missed try-outs." She tells him, quietly.

Baze looks at her, confused. "I'll talk to the coach."

Lauren laughs, shaking her head. She throws down the soccer ball and kicks it towards the goal. Baze watches as the ball makes it in the goal, perfectly. "I missed out on the one thing I'm really good at, that I'm passionate about, just to go to Sunnyvale. Where I was beated, molested, and raped!" Lauren yells. Baze was flabbergasted by Lauren's outburst and wasn't exactly sure what to say. "I can't even talk to the one guy I really liked that helped me that night. Who didn't give up on me. I can't talk to anyone! That's why you and mom brought me to a Psychiatrist, but you're just wasting your money with that because I can't even talk to her!"

"Hey, we're not wasting our money. Nothing is wasted on you! Do you hear me!" Baze was starting to get scared. He didn't know how to handle Lauren when she got like this, only Cate knew how.

"The nightmares won't go away. Except it doesn't feel like nightmares. It feels real. Like he is really there, and I'm back at Sunnyvale again. I see him- I see him crawling on top of me!" She cries. "Or he's ripping my clothes off and throwing me into hot water, or he's violating me! It feels so real!"

Baze kneels down and grabs Lauren by her arms. "Lauren, they are not real. Okay? Do you hear me? They are not real! You are not at Sunnyvale. You are with us. Your mom, me, and Lux. He is not around you anymore, and I will never let him be, ever again!"

"But he is." Lauren points to her head. "He'll always be here."

"Then we'll just have to help you get rid of him, won't we?" Baze asks, smiling. Lauren wraps her arms tightly around Baze's neck, crying into his neck. "It's okay. I'm here. You're okay, now. You're okay. I love you, kiddo."

"I love you, Daddy." Lauren says into his neck.

Baze smiles at those words. He hadn't heard those words in such a long time from Lauren. He missed it. "You want to play soccer again?" He asks, pulling her up. Lauren laughs, nodding. Baze gets up and grabs the soccer ball. "Then show me what you got." He says throwing the ball down on the ground. Lauren wipes her tears away, and laughs, as she kicks the ball, running to the other side of the field, as Baze tries to block her. But she gets passed him and kicks it in the goal. Baze picks Lauren up, hugging her, as they stand there laughing, enjoying eachother's company.

At Cate's; Baze and Lauren walk through the door as Cate and Lux run up to them. Cate quickly grabs Lauren and hugs her.

"Where have you been!" Cate asks.

"I found her at the soccer field. We were just playing a little game." Baze answers for her.

"Mom, can you yell at me later? I'm really tired." Lauren asks Cate.

Cate looks down at her daughter, not sure if she should be worried or angry. "Yeah, okay. Tomorrow." She says sternly, kissing Lauren on her forehead. Lauren walks away to her room.

Cate and Lux look up at Baze questioning him with their eyes. "She just wants to play soccer." He tells them as he walks out.

Cate and Lux look at eachother confused. But they were both not in the mood to fight. "Let's just go to bed." Cate says putting her arm around Lux.

At the Psychatrist's office; Lauren and Lux are sitting on the couch as the Doctor sits in front of them, with the same pen and the same paper in hand.

"So, do either of you want to tell me about Sunnyvale?" She asks.

Lux and Lauren look at eachother. They both knew it was going to be hard, but they were doing it together, and that's all that mattered. Lux takes Lauren's hand and looks back at the Doctor. "I'll tell you about Sunnyvale."


	19. The Mess I Made

_Should've kissed you there, I should've held your face. I should've watched those eyes, instead of run in place. I should've called you out. I should've said your name. I should've turned around. I should've looked again._

It had been a few weeks since Lauren had been to school. Math had been bringing her homework so that she wouldn't fall behind though. And for the first time since her incident, Lauren decided that today would be the day that she would go back. Cate and Lux are downstairs eating breakfast and talking when Lauren comes downstairs into the kitchen. They both turn and look at her in surprise.

"What?" She asks.

Cate walks up to Lauren, slowly. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Going to school." She says in an obvious tone as she sits next to Lux at the bar.

"Are you sure you're ready to go?" Cate asks as she fixes Lauren a plate of food.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "Yeah. Mom, it's been weeks. I need to go."

"Yeah, but Math said to take all the time you needed. It's not like you're missing anything since he's been bringing home you're work." Cate explains.

"I am missing something. I'm missing a social life. I can't stay in the house forever. Even though I know you want me to." Lauren tells her, smiling.

Lux smirks and Cate rolls her eyes at her. "I'm your mom. I have the right to worry."

"Well, worry less. Please."

Cate knew Lauren was just trying to be brave and pretend like nothing happened, but she knew Lauren really couldn't forget, since almost every night she was sneaking into Cate's room to sleep. She'd sometimes get up before Cate would even wake up, but other times she was so drained from her dreams keeping her up and she'd sleep in. Cate really didn't mind though. As long as Lauren felt safer when she was around her, then that's all that mattered.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Cate walks over to her purse and grabs an envelope.

"What's that?" Lux asks.

"Well, I got this a few days after the incident, but I didn't want to make things worse for you."

"Mom, what is it?" Lauren was starting to get worried, wondering how worse things could possibly get.

"Your school mailed this." Cate says, handing her the envelope. Lauren pulls the letter out and starts reading. "Just know that no matter what it's not going to change anything. You're doing so great. Math said so himself."

"I'm dyslexic." Lauren says, quietly, still staring at the letter in her hands.

"Honey.." Cate walks up to her to console but Lauren stands up and puts the letter down.

"I'm okay with it. At least we know what's wrong with me." Cate and Lux exchange worried looks. "I am going to get my bag." She says walking towards the stairs.

Cate sits down in her spot next to Lux. "Lux.."

"Don't worry, Cate. I will watch her." Lux assures her. Baze honks the horn outside. Lux and Cate get up and head towards the door. Lauren runs downstairs and kisses her mom on the cheek.

"Bye, Mom!" She says running out the door.

"Bye. I love you!" Cate yells.

"Love you, too!"

Lux shakes her head, amused, as she walks towards Baze's truck. He gives Lux a confused look as Lauren gets into the truck.

"I wouldn't ask questions if I were you." Lux tells him as she climbs into the passenger seat.

"Hi, Daddy!" Lauren says cheerfully.

"Hey, kiddo." He says trying to match her happiness as he drives off.

Cate watches as they drive away. She was really worried about Lauren, and she had a bad feeling things weren't going to go the way Lauren thinks they will.

_But oh I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made. As you turn, you take your heart and walk away.  
_

The car ride to the school wasn't so silent like it usually is. Lauren wouldn't stop talking which was freaking out both Lux and Baze because they never seen her like this, especially since the incident. As Baze pulls up at the school; he barely had time to come to a complete stop before Lauren kisses him on his cheek.

"Bye, Dad!" She says, as she gets out the truck.

Lux and Baze watch Lauren as she approaches one of her friends, then Lux turns back to Baze.

"She creeping me out."

Baze nods his head. "Yeah, me too. Make it stop."

"But, it's good, right? She's not wallowing around the house anymore." Lux says trying more to convince herself than Baze.

Baze scratches his forehead in confusion. "I guess. Just watch her."

Lux smiles. "Yeah, don't worry. I will." She tells him as she gets out of the truck and walks over to Jones. "Hey."

Jones is staring at Lauren. "Why is she here?" He asks, confused.

Lux laughs. "Because she goes here."

"Yeah, but it's too soon, right? She's still recovering."

"I'm not sure. She's been acting weird all morning, so I've been put on Lauren patrol all day." She tells him. "Have you seen Jake?"

"No. And I'm guessing Lauren won't want to see him either."

Lux shrugs looking back at Lauren who is heading into the building. "We'll see."

At the station. Cate decided it was time to go back to work herself, since she had been staying at home with Lauren. Even though corporate told her it was okay, they weren't expecting it to be for this long, so they weren't too happy with her. Cate runs in, taking her seat at her desk, in front of Ryan.

Ryan looks at her confused, and surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here." She tells him.

"I know. But where is Lauren?"

"She went to school." She tells him.

"Wait. She what?"

"I can't force her to stay home, Ryan. She wanted to go back to school, so what?" Cate tells him.

Ryan smiles. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"Yeah, whatever." She says putting her headphones on. "And I am back. Cate Cassidy here.." She says into the mic.

Cate still felt a little awkward when she was around Ryan. They never fully discussed what had happened at the wedding, and to be honest, she wasn't exactly sure what to even say about it. She still loves Ryan, but Baze makes it all confusing.

At school; Lauren closes her locker and turns into Josh.

"Oh, sorry." He says. They both look at eachother, awkwardly. "Oh. Hey, Lauren."

"Hey, Jake." Lauren says walking away.

Jake rolls his eyes and runs after her. "Lauren, I think we should talk." He says stepping in front of her.

"We have nothing to talk about, Jake." Lauren says trying to get passed him, but he gets in her way again. "Move."

"No. I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?" She asks, annoyed.

"For going to your house. I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing."

"Well, I'm fine." She says moving passed him and walking away.

Jake turns around, frustrated, and watches as Lauren walks further away from him.

_Should've held my ground. I could've been redeemed; for every second chance that changed it's mind on me. I should've spoken up. I should've proudly claimed; that oh my head's to blame for all my heart's mistakes.  
_

Lauren walks into Math's class while everyone is walking out, including Lux and Jones. But they stop when they see Lauren as she walks over to Math's desk.

"I want a new tutor." She demands.

Math looks up at her, confused. "Why do you want a new tutor?"

"I just want a new tutor." She says again, with no emotion.

"What's wrong with Jake? He's the best tutor here." Math tells her.

"I doubt that." Lauren says, rolling her eyes.

"Lauren, why do you want a new tutor?" Lux asks, as she walks over to Lauren.

Lauren turns around and takes a deep breath. "It's not like you'd understand. But you guys want me to get help for my dyslexia, then find me a new tutor. If not, then I guess I'll just continue to suck at math." She tells them as she storms out the room.

"What's with the sudden mood change?" Jones asks.

Lux rolls her eyes. "She's such a drama queen."

"There's no other tutor." Math says in frustration. "Should I call Baze?"

Lux nods. "Yeah, and Cate, too." She tells him.

At the studio; Cate is getting coffee when Ryan walks up to her.

"So, I think we need to talk." He tells her.

Cate grabs her coffee and walks over to a table. "About what?"

Ryan sits down next to her and sighs. "About the wedding. I want to explain myself."

Cate smirks. "Explain yourself? Ryan, I walked away."

"True. But I wasn't completely honest with you."

"What are you talking about, Ryan?"

"I did have cold feet, but for other reasons." He admits.

Cate sits up in her chair, suddenly intrigue on where Ryan was going with this. "What other reasons, Ryan?"

Ryan looks down at his coffee. "There was a woman." He mumbles.

"What?"

"There was a woman, and something happened."

Flashback-Ryan knocks on the door, and a woman opens it.

"Hey." She says.

"Hey."

"That was fast." She says, smiling.

Ryan walks in and she closes the door. "Well, I called, and you picked up."

"You're drunk." She says, amused, as she follows him into the living room. "And engaged."

"We broke up. Cate, she, something happened. It's a long story." He says as the woman wraps her arms around his waist.

"I'm a good listener." She tells him.

Ryan smiles. "I didn't come here to talk."

She takes off Ryan's jacket, and they start making out, as they start pulling clothes off one another.

End Flashback- Cate and Ryan are staring at eachother when Cate's phone rings, interrupting them. She reaches down and answers it. Ryan sits back, nervously, looking back down at his coffee.

"Hello? Math? Did something happen to Lauren?" She asks, worriedly. Ryan looks up, curiously. "Uh, yeah, okay. I'll be right there." She says hanging up her phone and grabbing her purse.

"Is everything okay?" He asks.

"I have to go." She says, painfully.

Cate walks away, leaving Ryan sulking closely to his coffee.

_But oh I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made; as you turn, you take your heart and walk away.  
_

At the school; Cate, Baze, and Lauren are sitting in front of Math and the Principal. Lauren was looking really annoyed. She didn't understand what was so hard in getting another tutor. Jake wasn't the only one out there.

"Why do you want another tutor?" Cate asks Lauren, soothingly.

Lauren rolls her eyes and looks at her mom. "Because I do."

"That's not really a good answer, Lauren." Baze tells her.

"Why does it matter! Don't you guys want me to have a tutor I will feel comfortable around!" She yells.

"We met Jake. He seems like a pretty cool guy."

"Lauren, Jake is a really good tutor. I'm sure you know that. As for your disability, he is really the only good one here in school." The principal tells her.

Lauren laughs. "Really? He's sixteen years old. What the hell does he know about my disability?"

Cate and Baze at Lauren wide-eyed. "Lauren, don't talk to your principal like that!" Cate shouts at her.

Lauren grabs her bag and stands up. "I don't need this. Either get me another tutor or you'll be seeing me again and again in the same math class." She tells them as she walks out leaving Cate and Baze shaking their heads.

"Miss. Cassidy; Mr. Bazile, we understand that Lauren had some things going on over the past few weeks. Has she talked to anyone?"

Cate nods her head. "Yeah. She goes to a therapist at least twice a week."

"I don't think this has anything to do with Jake." Baze says. "I mean yeah, she's mad at him for a certain reason, but I think she is just embarrassed."

"About what?" Math asks.

"Jake was there when they found her." Cate tells them. "And they both like eachother, but just there's things going on right now that Lauren is not ready for yet."

"Well, I guess we can look into finding her a new tutor if she is that uncomfortable." The principal tells them.

Both Cate and Baze shake theirs heads. "No, no. Don't do that. Just give her time. Jake is doing really well with her." Cate says.

In the library; Lauren is looking through some books when Jake walks up to her.

"You missed our session." He tells her.

Lauren walks away, but Jake follows her.

"You're not my tutor anymore." She tells him, bluntly.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, confused. "Did Mr. Rogers tell you that?"

"No. I told him that." She says; harshly. Lauren starts walking towards the exit but Jake steps in front of her.

"You can't do that, Lauren. You can't just fire me."

Lauren laughs. "I just did, Jake." She tries walking passed him, but he grabs her arm. "Get off of me!" She yells, pulling back.

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" He asks, desperately.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Jake."

"Yes, I do. I should have told you from the beginning how I felt. Maybe you wouldn't have ran away like that."

"Maybe not. But it's a little too late for that." She says, bitterly, finally getting passed him and walking out.

_And it's you, and it's you. And it's you, and it's you. And it's falling down as you walk away. And it's on me now as you go.  
_

Outside; Baze and Cate walk out, heading for their cars.

"Hey, are you okay?" Baze asks, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Well, you seemed a little pissed when you came in. Did something happened?"

"Just really concerned about Lauren. I just want her to be okay."

"She will be." Baze assures her before stopping Cate. "Hey, if you need to talk. I'm here."

Cate looks up at him. She smiles slightly and nods her head as she walks to her car.

At the quad; Jones, Lux, and Tasha are sitting at a table when Jake walks up and sits with them.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey, Jake. What's up?" Lux asks.

"Tell me what's up with your sister. She doesn't want me to be her tutor anymore."

Lux sighs. "Yeah. She's just being dramatic. Don't worry about her."

"But I am worried. I know I really hurt her, but I didn't think she would take it this far."

"Dude, she's just embarrassed." Tasha tells him. Lux gives her a look. "What? Look, he needs to know what's up with her so that he can fix it."

"Why would she be embarrassed?" Jake asks.

"Dude, you were with us." Jones tells him.

Jake looks at him confused. "Jake, you were with us when we went to Sunnyvale. We just told her, and she wasn't too happy about it. Lauren didn't want you to see her like that." Lux explains to him.

"But I didn't see her any differently." Jake slams his fist on the table. "Man, I should have never lied to her!"

Lux grabs his shoulder to calm him. "Hey, it's not your fault, okay? Lauren will get over this. I promise. It's going to take time."

"Just be there for her, man. Let her know that you're there now." Jones says.

Jake nods his head and thanks them before walking off.

"Who knew Lauren would be breaking sixteen year old boy's hearts?" Tasha laughs.

At Cate's; Cate is cleaning up when there's a knock at her door. She walks up to it and Ryan is standing behind it.

"Don't close the door on me. Let me explain." He says, desperately.

Cate crosses her arms. "What more do you have to explain, Ryan? We broke up and you slept with someone else!"

"So did you!" Cate goes to slam the door, but Ryan stops it with his hand. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that."

"What's her name?"

"What?"

"Her name, Ryan. Her name!" Cate shouts.

Ryan walks in the door, closing it behind him. "Julia. Her name is Julia."

"Where did you meet her?" Cate asks, softly.

"She's an ex-girlfriend." He tells her.

Cate laughs. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie?"

Ryan takes a deep breath. "Okay, yes. Julia and I dated. Cate, it was a long time ago."

"Well, it's a pretty big thing not to mention for three years. I just don't understand what your ex was doing back!" She shouts.

"Okay. It only happened one time. I knew it was a mistake. I was drunk, and I was hurt. And Julia and I didn't really talk after that, until the day before our wedding."

Flashback- Ryan gets out his car, and starts to walk to Cate's house. But he turns and sees Julia's car parked on the side of the road. He turns too look back at the house to make sure no one was looking, and then he walks to Julia's car.

"What are you doing here?" He asks as he gets in.

"Your mom told me you'd be there. I didn't know what else to do. You weren't answering my calls." She tells him.

"Yeah, for a reason. We have a rehearsal dinner tonight, and the wedding is tomorrow, Julia."

"Ryan, I think I'm pregnant."

"What?"

"I took a home test."

"Oh my gosh, Julia. I am marrying Cate tomorrow. I mean am I suppose to tell her today, before the rehearsal?"

"Listen, listen. Calm down." She says grabbing his arm. "I'm going to the doctor to confirm it. I just felt like you needed to know, but there's no reason for you to say anything to Cate until we know for sure."

"Julia, I'm here for you no matter what, but, uh, I gotta go before she sees us." He says, opening the door. "Just call me when you know."

Julia nods her head. "I will."

Ryan walks away from the car and looks back up at the house. He takes the ring out of his pocket and looks down at it, guilty.

End Flashback- Cate is standing there completely stunned, and Ryan is standing there waiting for whatever rampage Cate was about to throw at him.

"Oh my gosh." She says, turning away from him. "No. I came to you, and I asked you, but no, you promised me that it was all in my head! That it wasn't true! And when you were talking to Lux, and you were being that great guy, and you were putting her first! Were you just looking for a way out!"

"No, Cate! Everything I said to Lux was true! I would have called the wedding off for her if that's what she wanted. But yeah, I had my own reasons, too."

Flashback- Lux is walking away after her and Ryan's talk. Ryan turns away from her and sees Julia walking towards him. He runs over to her.

"Julia!"

"Hey. Um, I tried calling. It was just a false alarm." She tells him. "I'm not pregnant."

Ryan breathes out in relief. "Okay."

End Flashback- Cate is standing there staring at him.

"So, what? I'm just suppose to be okay because she isn't pregnant? What if she had been pregnant? Would you have called off the wedding? I mean, before Baze ran in. Would you have called it off?"

Ryan stands there unsure. "I don't know." He tells her.

Cate looks at him stricken in pain as tears start to fall.

_But oh, I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made; as you turn, you take your heart and walk away.  
_

Later at the house; Lux and Lauren are sitting in the living room as they work on their homework.

"Jake came talk to us today." Lux tells her. Lauren doesn't say anything. She just keeps writing. "Lauren, he's really worried about you."

"He shouldn't be. I'm not his girlfriend. I'm not even his friend." She says, bitterly.

Lux stares at Lauren in disbelief about how she is acting. "Okay, I'm really tired of you!"

"Don't hold back, Lux." Lauren says sarcastically. Lux takes Lauren's pen out of her hand. "Lux!"

"No! You're going to listen to me. Jake is a good guy! Yeah, he hurt you, because he thought he was protecting you! But everyone is okay with it, Lauren! Jake really likes you, and he didn't think of you any differently when we picked you up from Sunnyvale. He just wanted to help you! He STILL wants to help you. Stop pushing yourself away from people, Lauren! I know exactly what you went through, and it's really hard to get over. But if you want to be happy, then be happy!" Lux gets up and walks out the living room.

Lauren sits back and breathes out in frustration, but before she could process everything the doorbell rings. She gets up and opens the door.

"Hey." Jake says. Lauren crosses her arms, and stares at Jake, annoyed. "I just wanted to come and apologize again. You have every right to be angry with me, Lauren. I know I hurt you a lot by lying to you, but I thought I was just doing the right thing. You're young and you have a fragile heart. I'm so glad I was wrong." He jokes, but regrets it when he sees Lauren was the least bit amused. "You don't have to say anything to me. I like you a lot, and you're so beautiful; inside and out. You have an amazing heart. And I want to be with you. When you're ready. So, when you are, I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere." He tells her, smiling sincerely, as he walks away.

Lauren closes the door behind him, and leans back against the door; sliding down to the floor.

_And it's falling down, as you walk away. And it's on me now as you go.  
_

Later; Lauren walks up to Cate's bedroom and knocks lightly on the door. When she opens it; Cate sits up quickly and wipes her tears.

"Mom, are you crying?" She asks, concerned.

"Uh, no. What's up?" Cate laughs.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. Come sit." Cate pats the empty space in front of her on the bed. Lauren walks over and sits down. "What's going on?"

"Do you and Dad really think that Jake is a good guy?" She asks, nervously.

Cate was taken back by the question. She wasn't expecting their conversation to be about Jake. But she looks at her daughter, and she sees hope and fear at the same time. "Yes, we do." She tells her, taking Lauren's hand in her's. "Sweetie, I know you're worried about getting hurt again, but I don't think Jake would do that to you."

"How do you know?"

"Because the way he looked at you that night, the pain in his eyes, seeing you hurt; scared him, Lauren. And I don't think he'd ever want that for you again." Cate explains.

Lauren nods, but looks up at Cate and smiles. "But he's sixteen, Mom. Do you really think it'll work out?"

"Well, you're both very young. You, especially, but if it doesn't, I guarantee that you'll have more guys coming your way. There is no doubt in my mind." Cate says, smiling lovingly at Lauren. "And sweetie, I don't want you regret not taking the chance."

Lauren smiles, nodding, as she reaches up and hugs Cate tightly around her neck. Cate chuckles, putting her arms around her daughter. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, my girl." They pull apart and Lauren sits there staring at a spot on the bed. "What?" Cate asks, looking at Lauren strangely.

"Is it okay if I stay in here tonight?" Lauren asks, sheepishly.

Cate laughs. "Well, it's about time you ask! Of course. Come on!" She pulls the blankets over as Lauren climbs into bed next to her mom. Cate reaches up and turns the light off. She lays down and smiles as Lauren snuggles closely to her, resting her head on Cate's shoulders. Cate kisses Lauren on her forehead; rubbing Lauren's arm, soothingly as they fall asleep.

At the studio the next day; Cate walks out the elevator and sees Ryan standing at the coffee stand. He turns around and walks over to her.

"Cate.."

But Cate brushes right passed him, ignoring him, and walking away down the hall. Ryan watches with sad eyes, as the woman he loves walks away from him.

At school; Jake is sitting on the steps outside the school when Lauren walks up to him.

"Hey." He says, smiling, standing up to face her.

"Hey." She says, nervously. "I just wanted to tell you that I've thought about what you said."

"And.."

"And I just need time right now. I still like you a lot, too, Jake, but I need time. Okay?" She begs.

Jake nods. "Of course."

Lauren walks up the steps, passing Lux. She turns to her and smiles; and Lux returns the smile back, gratefully. Jake watches Lauren walk into the school. He was going to wait forever if he had to, he thought. Lux turns towards him, and smiles. He looks at her and laughs; walking away.

_But oh, I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made. I'm staring at the mess I made; as you turn, you take your heart and walk away._

song: Mess I Made by Parachute. :)


	20. Merry Christmas

It's the last day before Lux and Lauren start their Christmas break, and they were really looking forward to not having to go to school and just spending time at home, with their friends, and maybe go to a few parties. Cate on the other hand had been cooped up in the house since her vacation days started at the station. Lauren and Lux tried everything to get Cate out of bed and to go out, but they weren't successfull. So, they are hoping since it's their break now, too, then maybe Cate would want to spend a little extra time with them.

In Cate's bedroom; Cate is laying in bed staring up at the ceiling. That's the way Lauren and Lux would find her every morning. But this morning they were determine to make it a little different. Lauren knocks lightly on her door before walking in. She sighs when she sees Cate, who didn't even budge when she walked in. Lauren walks over to Cate and climbs into bed next to her.

Cate sits up and smiles softy at Lauren. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" She asks.

Lauren smiles back. "Shouldn't you be getting ready to take me to school?"

Cate gives her a questioning look. "What are you talking about? Your dad takes you to school."

Lauren shakes her head. "Nope. Not this time. Lux and I want you to take us."

Cate groans. "Lauren, I'm really tired."

"Duh! Because you've been in this bed all week!" Lauren tells her as she out of the bed and grabs Cate's hand. "Come on, Mom. Please!"

"Ugh! Fine!" Cate gets out and walks to her closet.

Lauren starts walking towards the door, but stops and turns back around. "Uh, Mom." Cate looks at Lauren. "Can you shower first? K, thanks!" Lauren says quickly before running out.

Cate rolls her eyes and groans loudly.

Lauren walks upstairs while Lux comes downstairs.

"Are we on?" Lux asks.

"We're on." Lauren answers back.

Later; Lux is sitting at the bar eating a bowl of cereal when Cate walks in and pours herself some coffee.

"Did you evil geniuses call Baze?

Lux chuckles. "Yeah, we did. He was happy to be able to sleep in late. Which reminds me; do you think that this whole staying in bed all day thing is going to still happen since me and Lauren are on break after today, or are you actually going to get out of bed and do something?"

Cate scoffs. "I have not been staying in bed all day."

Lux rolls her eyes. "Tell that to your sheets. Which by the way, Lauren put to wash."

Cate takes another sip of her coffee before grabbing her purse. "Let's go!" She yells.

In the car; Lauren had not stop talking since they got in and Cate was getting very annoyed.

"You have to promise us you're not going to go home and go straight back to bed."

"I'm not going to bed, Lauren." Cate says.

"Mom, promise! Don't make me have to call Dad to check on you." Lauren warns her.

Cate groans. "I promise!"

Satisfied with her answer, Lauren nods her head and sits back in her seat.

"Cate, are you ever going to tell us what happened with you and Ryan?" Lux asks.

"Is Lauren ever going to tell me what happened with her and Jake?" Cate asks back, looking into the rearview mirror. Lauren turns her head away, ignoring Cate. "If I would have known that would have shut you up and long time ago, I would have done it before we got into the car." She laughs.

"Come on, Cate. You can't keep it from us forever." Lux tells her.

"Oh, look. School." She says pulling up to the curb. "Have a good day. See you later." She tells them, sarcastically.

Lux and Lauren both roll their eyes and get out the car. Before they even had time to shut their door; Cate drives off.

"And who's idea was for her to bring us again?" Lux asks.

Lauren sighs. "Shut up." She says walking away.

At Cate's; Cate drives up and sees Ryan sitting outside on her porch. She gets out, slamming the door, and storming up the driveway.

"Cate."

"What are you doing here, Ryan?"

"I came to check on you. Lux, was worried." He explains.

"Lux was worried? I don't want to talk to you, Ryan. I'm very busy today." She says going inside, but her attempt to shut Ryan out was unsuccessful as he follows her in.

"Cate, don't walk away from me. We need to talk about this."

Cate slams her purse down on the table and turns away. "I'm tired of talking about it, Ryan! I mean you still slept with her, right!"

"Cate!"

"You know this whole time you've been acting like this great guy, and I've just been trying to be worthy of you! I put you up on this giant pedestal like you were perfect!"

"What can't you understand, huh! All I was trying to do was the right thing!"

"Oh, I love this. When you lie, it's doing the right thing. But when I lie, I'm a dysfunctional strue." She laughs.

"No! It was the right thing, Cate! I mean how many times have you ran over Baze for not being accountable? For not being there when you were pregnant! I did what I thought you'd want me to do!"

"Really! Yes, I really wanted you to sleep with your ex-girlfriend, and then lie to me about it, on our wedding day!" Cate screams.

Ryan rubs his face in frustration, and laughs. "Alright. You want me to admit that I'm as bad as you?" He asks. "Is that what you want? You want to blame everyone, except yourself? I mean you spent, what, sixteen years blaming Baze, and now, what, you're going to spend the next sixteen years blaming me? Don't worry about everyone else! Just take some responsibilities for the choices you made."

"I am! Don't you think that's what I've been doing ever since Lux walked back into my life! Don't you think I know that sleeping with Baze was wrong! That I haven't kicked myself every single damn day for it, and that I know you probably shouldn't have taken me back! Maybe if you didn't and we moved on then you'd be back with your ex-girlfriend! You could finally be happy and not have to deal with me and my dysfunctional family! But don't tell me I haven't taken responsibilities for my choices, because everyday when I see my daughters faces, I see that I made the right choices!" She yells, turning away so that Ryan couldn't see her cry. But he knew better. He knew her.

"Cate." He says, grabbing her arm.

Cate pulls back. "Don't touch me, Ryan!" He tries again, but she starts pushing and hitting him. "Stop! Stop! Stop, Ryan!"

Ryan grabs Cate quickly and brings her to him as she starts to cry on his chest. "I'm sorry." He whispers into her hair.

Cate looks up at him, and they stare at eachother for a few seconds before leaning in and kissing eachother.

At school; Lauren closes her locker as Jake walks up to her.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey, Jake." They begin walkin down the hall with eachother.

"So, what are your plans for Christmas break?" He asks her.

Lauren shrugs. "I don't know. Something happened with my mom and Ryan, so Lux and I are probably just going to try to spend time with her and cheer her up. What about you?"

"Um, I don't know either. I was hoping I'd see you."

Lauren smiles. "Jake, we're not together."

"I know. But you told me to give you time, so can I give you time while being your friend? What's the harm?"

Lauren nods. "Fine. Yeah, maybe we'll hang out, maybe we won't. You never know."

"Yeah, you never know." He says smiling at her. "See you around Lauren Bazile."

Lauren watches Jake walk away. She couldn't lie. She had been thinking a lot about Jake, but she knew she couldn't go back on her word. She did need time. Having a boyfriend so soon after everything that had happened to her was too much. And she was still having major trust issue especially watching Ryan break her mom's heart so many times.

Outside on the quad; Lux and Tasha are sitting at a table talking.

"So, did you find out what happened with Cate and Ryan?" Tasha asks.

Lux shakes her head. "She won't tell me anything, but I'm determined to get something out of her during break. I cannot take her moping around the house much longer. I thought Lauren was bad, but Cate is worse."

"She's still giving Jake a hard time? That kid is seriously in love with her."

"She's thirteen. She doesn't even know what love is."

Jones sits down next to her. "And you do?" He asks, curiously. 

Lux smiles. "Nope. I don't either."

"Are you two ever going to make it official?" Tasha asks them.

"Maybe." Lux tells her as she nudges Jones playfully.

Tasha rolls her eyes. "You guys make me sick. Call me later." She tells Lux before walking away.

"So, I was thinking." Jones starts.

"About what?"

"I want to take you out on a date. Tomorrow night." He tells her.

Lux smiles, nervously. "What kind of date?"

"An official date. I want to make things official with you, Lux."

"Jones.."

"I'll pick you up at seven." He says kissing her on her cheek then walking away.

Lux sits there, staring off at where Jones left. A date? Official? She hadn't been official since Bug. Now she was definitely nervous.

At Cate's; Upstairs in her bedroom. Cate and Ryan are both laying in bed with their arms wrapped around eachother.

"Wow." Ryan says.

"Yeah, I think that's the best sex we've had since, well, before our wedding day." Cate tells him.

"Well, you know what they say about break-up sex. Or make up sex." He says, hopefully. He looks over at Cate who is looking down. "But we're not making up, are we?" He asks, moving his arm from behind her. "Are you giving up on us, Cate?"

"I don't know." Cate sits up. "Yeah, what I did, yeah, I suck. We all know I suck. But you knew exactly who I was, Ryan. And that's the difference. You knew that I sabotaged things, and screw them up. You knew about my history with Baze. The fact that I had two kids with him out of a drunkin stage. You knew that it was complicated. You knew exactly who you were getting yourself into. And I stayed with you because I thought I knew who you were. And now I don't even recognize you. You need to go." Cate tells him as she gets up and puts on her robe. "This was a mistake."

"Cate."

"Lux and Lauren are going to be here soon." she tells him as she walks into her bathroom and slams the door.

Ryan breathes out, trying to take in everything that just happened.

Downstairs; Ryan walks down when the front door opens revealing Lux, Lauren, and Baze.

"Ryan." Lux says, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I have to go." He says walking passed them.

"Should we go check on her?" Lauren asks.

Baze puts his hands on Lauren's shoulders supportively. "No, let me. I need to talk to her about something anyway."

Upstairs; Cate is sitting on her bed, staring at the wall. Baze knocks lightly on her door before walking in.

"What are you doing here?" She asks him.

"I brought Lauren and Lux home. We just ran into Ryan." He tells her.

Cate opens her mouth, stunned. "Oh, no. How are Lauren and Lux? I need to go talk to them!" She says getting up but Baze sits her back down.

"No, no. They're fine. They are just worried about you." He says, sitting down next to her.

"It was a mistake. He came, we yelled, we had sex, then we fought again. Why am I such a screw up?"

"You're not a screw up, Cate. We all make mistakes. Even Ryan."

"I am a screw up. Ryan and I have been through everything together. I mean, I slept with you, and he forgave me, but he sleeps with his ex-girlfriend who could have turned out to be pregnant and I can't even forgive him. And I don't even know if I want to be with him. So, if that doesn't make me a screw up. Then what does?" She asks. Baze sighs and takes Cate's hand in his. "I almost married him. I wanted to marry him because he was better than me. He was suppose to be this perfect guy, that was our deal, and he's not. He's me. I don't want to be with me! I hate me!"

"Well, you shouldn't. I don't." Cate looks at Baze. "Come here." He says, putting his arm around Cate. She leans in and rests her head on his shoulder. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" She asks, nervously.

"I want all of us to have Christmas together. You, me, Lauren, and Lux, and well whoever else. I want to be able to give Lux her first good Christmas."

Cate smiles. "Me too."

"So, you're down?"

Cate laughs. "I'm down."

"Good, good. I'll talk to you later, Cate." He says, excited, before walking out.

Downstairs; Cate walks into the kitchen where Lux is making herself something to drink.

"Hey, where's your sister?" Cate asks her.

"Up in her room." Lux tells her. "Um, Cate, should I be worried?"

Cate turns around and looks at Lux confused. "Worried about what?"

"You. Ryan. You and Ryan. What's going on, Cate?" Lux asks, sitting down at the counter.

Cate lets out a sigh before sitting next to Lux. "It's a long story."

"I'm on break. I have time."

Cate laughs. "Well, when Ryan and I were broken up, the first time, he slept with his ex-girlfriend."

"You slept with Baze." Lux reminds her.

"Not the point. At our wedding, well before our wedding, she came and told him that she might be pregnant."

Lux looked at Cate with wide eyes. "You're kidding."

Cate shakes her head and sighs. "No. Not kidding. I specifically told him to tell me if he was ready and he lied to me. I'm almost happy that Baze ran in when he did. I wouldn't be married to a liar right now."

"Cate.."

"And what if his ex was pregnant? I don't even want to think about that." Cate says, continuing her rambling. "You know, you and Lauren come first in my life. I don't have time for Ryan's games. I just don't. He was suppose to be one of the good guys."

"He is a good guy, Cate." Lux says, cutting in.

Cate looks at Lux, and laughs. "Yeah, right. And then he walks in here expecting me to instantly forgive him! And then lures me in the bedroom to have sex with him!"

Lux raising her hand in disgust. "Alright. That's a little too much information for your daughter to hear."

"I'm sorry. I'm just really confused right now, and he is the last person I want to be thinking about." Cate tells her.

Lux stands up and smiles. "Well, then you can think about me then."

"What do you mean?"

"Jones asked me out on a date for tomorrow night."

"Ookay. You guys go out all the time. What's the big deal?" Cate asks her.

"He wants to make us official. Like official, official. I haven't been official since Bug. I don't know how to be official." Lux explains in a panic.

Cate laughs standing up in front of Lux. "Calm down. You will pretty much be doing what you do with him now, except now you can call eachother boyfriend and girlfriend. So, how about we go upstairs and find you something to wear."

"Really? You're going to help me?"

"Well, I promised Lauren I wouldn't go back to bed. So, come on." She says grabbing Lux's hand and heading towards the stairs; laughing.

In Lauren's room; Lauren is laying down on her bed, writing, when she gets a text. She picks up her phone and sees that it's from Jake. 'Lauren, I want to ask you out on a "friend" date tomorrow night. Seven. No ifs or buts, see you tomorrow. =)' Lauren looks at the text with a panic look on her face. No ifs or buts, which meant regardless if she said no, he would be here, at her house, tomorrow, at seven. Lauren gets up and runs out her room, down the hall, and up to Lux's room.

"Emergency!" She yells.

Cate and Lux turn around from Lux's closet and look at Lauren. "Honey, what's going on? Are you okay?" Cate asks, running over to her.

"Definitely not okay!" She says, holding out her phone. "Jake asked me on a date for tomorrow night!"

Cate and Lux look at eachother and smile. "What's so wrong with that?" Cate asks her.

"We're not dating. I told him I just wanted to be friends. Going on a date is not us being friends." Lauren tells her.

"Then just tell him no, geez." Lux says.

"I would, but he said no ifs or buts about it. He's coming over tomorrow at seven no matter what. I can't tell him no!"

"Wow. This guy is not giving up." Cate says, slightly amused.

"Tell me about it! What am I going to do!"

"You're going to suck it up and go on the date!" Lux tells her. "And no ifs or buts about it!"

Lauren glares at Lux. "Very funny. Fine! I'm going find something to wear to go on this stupid date with this stupid guy who doesn't know the meaning of a stupid friendship! Ugh!" Lauren storms out of Lux's room and Cate and Lux look at eachother.

"She is so dramatic like you." Lux tells Cate.

Cate scoffs. "I'm dramatic? Whatever."

The next day; Lauren is in her room, laying down in bed, staring up at the ceiling. She barely slept last night thinking about her date with Jake, and she was getting nervous. Cate knocks softy on Lauren's door and peeks her head in. When she sees almost every single piece of Lauren's clothing laying on the floor, she stares there in shock.

"Did an earthquake just come through your room?" She asks looking around.

Lauren sighs and sits up. "I don't know what to wear for tonight. I don't have anything."

"Your floor tells me differently." Cate jokes.

"Mom, I'm serious."

Cate walks over and slides down next to Lauren. "I know you are. Why are you so nervous? I thought you like Jake?"

"I do. But I don't know if I'm ready for this. I mean, I'm probably just overreacting and maybe this is just a friend date, but what if I'm not even ready for that either?"

Cate wraps her arm around Lauren's shoulders. "You'll never know until you try. Look how about you come shopping with me and Lux this afternoon. She doesn't know what to wear either with her date with Jones, so we can find something for you, too. And wasn't it you that told me I couldn't stay in bed for your Christmas break? So, you can't either."

Lauren smiles. "Fine. I'll go. Thanks, Mom." 

Cate kisses Lauren gently on her temple. "No problem, sweetie." She says getting up and walking out. Lauren takes a deep sigh and looks around her room. She was not looking forward to cleaning that up.

At Open Bar; Baze is standing behind the counter making a few early drinks for the early risers that are there, when Ryan comes in and takes a seat.

"Beer, Baze." Ryan tells him. He looked like he had already been drinking all night and got no sleep whatsover. Baze looks at him, curiously.

"Man, you look terrible."

"I feel terrible. Now give me a beer." He says again, throwing down a twenty on the counter. "And keep them coming."

"Dude, it's like ten in the morning. Are you serious?"

"I'm here, aren't I." Ryan says, sarcastically.

Baze sighs and takes out a glass. "Whatever you say." He pours Ryan's beer then hands it to him. "Is this about what happened yesterday at Cate's?"

"I don't want to talk about Cate."

"Fine."

"Why is she so scared, Baze? I mean, yeah, I slept with my ex-girlfriend, but it's not like she is better than me. She slept with you when we were still together!" Ryan blurts out.

"I guess we are talking about it. You slept with your ex-girlfriend!" Baze asks, confused.

"That's not the point. She had cold feet, too, at the wedding. I could tell something was going on, and now she wants to get mad at me because I'm finally admitting it!"

"Okay, I don't know what Cate has told you, but it's not entirely her fault. It's my fault, too." Ryan looks up at him, confused. "If I wouldn't have had feelings for Cate then she wouldn't have had doubts and been wondering if she had feelings for..me." Baze says, slowly, after looking at Ryan's confused and hurt face. "Okay, you're drunk. Pretend you didn't even hear that." Baze tries to walk away, but Ryan stops him.

"No, Baze. Tell me what happened." Ryan says, trying to stay calm. "Tell me everything."

At the mall; Cate, Lauren, and Lux are walking in and out of stores. They have a few bags, and decided to do some extra Christmas shopping while they were there.

"I can't believe both my daughters have dates on the same night and I'm stuck at home." Cate laughs.

"It's not a real date." Lauren reminds her.

Lux laughs. "Call it what you want, Lauren, you're going on a date." Lauren rolls her eyes. "And Cate, if you don't want to stay at home I'm sure Baze is free, or you could go out, too."

"I'm not going out."

"Why not?" Lauren asks. "You haven't been out in such a long time. You could go with Aunt Abby or Alice."

Cate looks at her daughters, amused. "I'll think about it. So, Lux are you excited?"

"Uh, no. More like nervous."

"I thought you wanted to be with Jones." Lauren asks.

"I do. But I don't know. It's going good like this. I don't want what happened to me and Bug to happen to me and Jones." She tells them.

"Lux, Jones is not Bug. Far from him. He's a good guy."

"Uh, are you sure about that?" Lauren asks, stopping and looking forwards.

"What are you talking about?" Lux asks, as they follow Lauren's gaze to where Jones and Tasha are in the food court eating.

"A good guy who also takes out your best friend. Nice. That makes me feel so much better about my date."

Lux was speechless as she kept staring at her almost boyfriend and her best friend, laughing, and eating together.

At the house; Cate is putting away groceries when Ryan walks in without even knocking.

"Um, excuse me!"

"We need to talk." Ryan tells her.

"Ryan, I said what I needed to say."

"Are you really doing this?" Ryan asks her.

Cate laughs. "Doing what, Ryan? What is it that I am doing wrong?"

Ryan sighs. "Pretend like I was the only one who had a secret at the wedding." Cate stops what she's doing and looks at Ryan. "Baze told me everything. He said you ran to his loft. He said it was you that was having doubts. He said that you were afraid that you were in love with him!"

"No, Ryan! I mean, god, yes, I said that. But obviously it was because I was sensing your doubts which is why I went over there to begin with."

"Don't even blame this on me!"

"But I hid those feelings the second that I walked down that aisle."

"But you didn't say I do, Cate. You didn't say I do!" Ryan yells. He breathes out to calm himself. "But what would you have done? Not now, but then if he told you that he loved you? What would you have done? Would you have called off the wedding?"

Cate and Ryan stare at eachother waiting for her answer. Ryan stood there hoping for a no, and Cate was just more confused as ever. "I don't know."

Upstairs; Lauren walks up to Lux's room where Lux is just sitting on her bed looking at the clothes she bought that day for her date.

"Maybe it was nothing." Lauren says, softly, as she sits down next to Lux.

"Lauren, you seen them. It didn't look like nothing."

"Maybe you should call him. Or call Tasha."

Lux stands up and throws her new clothes across the room. "I'm not calling them! They are liars and I hate him. I hate him so much. And I thought Tasha was my best friend!"

"Lux, she is your best friend. Maybe you're just overreacting."

"Lauren, stop it. Just stop, okay? Or I won't help you get ready for your date with Jake. You want my help, right?"

Lauren smiles, slightly. "Lux, you don't have to help me."

"Come on." She says pulling Lauren up. "This night is for you."

At Baze's; Baze is sitting outside on his loft, drinking a beer, as Cate walks in.

"Hey." He says, standing up and walks towards her.

"Hey. I talked to Ryan."

"I'm so sorry, Cate. I thought my days of messing up you and Ryan were done with."

"You didn't mess us up. God, and I thought our only problems were you." She says walking over to the bench and sitting down. "If you would have told me, two months ago, when I was standing on this deck with you, that I would be in a better place with you than I am with Ryan..."

"Look, I am sorry. That night, that was my fault. I told Ryan that."

"It's not what you did that night. It was what I did. I came over here looking for something. I was looking for answers." She laughs softly. "What you did was not say you love me." Cate gets up and walks out the loft slowly as Baze watches her go, wondering if he would have said what she wanted him to say, if they would be happy. If they would finally be the family they needed to be.

In the kitchen; Cate and Lux are sitting at the bar.

"Cate, I don't know what to say." Lux says, looking confused.

Cate smiles slightly and looks over at Lux. "Yeah.."

"You and Ryan. You guys are gonna be okay, right? You're going to get through this?" She asks.

Cate takes Lux's hand. "Of course. We're going to get through it. Just because there was no wedding; doesn't mean we can't still make things right." Lux smiles, softly, nodding her head. "It's going to be okay, Lux. We're all going to be okay. You're going to be okay."

Lux looks at unsure if she should believe her or not. "Okay.."

"Have you talked to him? Or Tasha?" Cate asks.

"No. And I'm not sure if I want to. I'm not even sure if I want to hear what he has to say."

"Maybe it was just a mistake. It was probably nothing."

"That's what Lauren told me."

"Smart kid." Cate laughs.

"Okay, I'm coming down. Don't laugh!" Lauren tells them from upstairs.

Cate and Lux laugh as they head towards the stairs. "Come on down." Cate tells her.

Lauren walks down in a green dress that is a little above her knees, which matched her eyes perfectly. Her hair is curled and her make-up is done perfectly thanks to Lux. Cate and Lux smile up at her in awe.

"Do I look stupid?" Laure finally says when she makes it down the stairs.

"Not at all! You look beautiful!" Cate screeches in excitement. "My baby's first date!" She hugs Lauren tightly.

"Uh, okay, Mom." Lauren says looking at Lux for help.

Lux pulls Cate away from Lauren. "Alright, Cate. Don't mess up her make-up!"

The doorbell rings making Lauren go into full panic mode. "I don't want to go anymore!" She tells Cate. "Mommy, make him go away!"

Cate laughs. "You're going to have fun. Trust me."

Lux opens the door. "Hi, Jake." Jake is dressed in a white button down shirt with nice blue jeans on. He has flowers in his hands.

"Hey, Lux." He looks behind her and sees Lauren standing there next to Cate completely unsure on how to react. "Wow." He whispers.

Cate pushes Lauren toward the door. "Uh, hi Jake." She says nervously.

Lux backs up and pushes Lauren closer. "These are for you." He says, handing her a bouquet of daisies.

Lauren smiles. "How did you know daisies are my favorite?"

"Lucky guess." He says, smiling secretly towards Cate, who smiles back. She walks over and takes the flowers from Lauren.

"I'll just put these in a vase for you." She tells Lauren. "You two go and have fun. Ten o'clock curfew."

"Don't worry, Miss. Cassidy. I'll take care of her." He holds out his hand. "Shall we?" Lauren looks at his hand then back up at his face.

She smiles and takes it. "Lets get this over with."

Cate rolls her eyes, laughing, as she closes the door.

"Well, she's a charmer." Lux says, sarcastically.

Cate walks into the kitchen, followed by Lux, and grabs a vase to start putting water in it for the flowers.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Cate asks, just as the doorbell rings again.

"I'll get it." Lux says running for the door. "It's probably Jake bringing Lauren back already." She jokes. When she opens it, Jones is standing there with his own bouquet of flowers to give Lux.

"Hey, Lux." He looks down at her wardrobe. "Are you not ready yet?"

Lux just stares at him, unamused, before she slams the door in his face. Jones starts ringing the doorbell again, but Lux begins to walk upsairs as Cate runs to the door.

"Lux!" She opens the door, seeing Jones looking confused with flowers in his hands. She sighs. "Oh, Jones."

"What is going on? Why did she slam the door in my face?" He asks.

"Really, Jones? You don't know?" Cate asks.

"What did I do?"

"You need to talk to Lux."

"Well, can I talk to her? Please?" He pleads.

Cate shakes her head. "Not right now, Jones. It's not a good time." She says, closing the door just like Lux did.

At a local cafe; Jones and Lauren walk in as the hostess shows them to their tables. Jones pulls out Lauren's chair, making her blush a little as she sits down. He walks around and takes his seat.

"This place is really nice." Lauren says, looking around.

"Well, I wanted this night to be special for you. You look beautiful, Lauren."

"Uh, you look good, too, Jake." She says nervously. Jake smiles.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Um, just confused. Jake, I said I needed time. That we are just friends. This doesn't look like a just friends date to me."

Jake sighs. "Lauren, I know I did a lot of stupid things. And watching you go through what you went through amazes me. You are so strong and that just makes me like you so much more. You have such a big heart, Lauren, and I want to be apart of that."

"Jake.."

"I know you might not be ready. I understand that, but I want to help you get there. I want to help you get to where you need to be to be ready for me. You don't have to answer now. Just enjoy this night with me. Okay?"

Lauren thinks for a second and smiles. "Okay."

"Good." He grabs Lauren's hand. "We can get to know eachother more, too."

At Cate's; Lux is sitting on her bed, reading through the twenty messages Jones kept leaving her. 'Lux, please call me.' 'I'm really confused.' 'Can you please answer me!' Lux knew she probably should hear what he had to say, but she was not in the mood. She was too pissed off to even look at him. And seeing his name on her phone was starting to piss her off, too, so she throws her phone across the room. Luckily, it doesn't break, but she just lays theres staring at it. She sat there hoping that Lauren was having a better time than she was right now.

Back at the cafe;

"So, what's your favorite color?" Jake asks her.

"Red. Yours?"

"Green." He says smiling down at her dress.

"Hey, buddy. Eyes up here." She laughs.

Jake smiles, genuinely. "Fine. I don't mind looking at your green eyes, too."

Lauren looks down, blushing. "So, what made you start playing guitar?"

"I was ten. I don't know. My dad brought it home and I just picked it up. I started playing a few strings and just fell in love. I took a few lessons but I mainly just taught myself."

"Impressive."

"So, what about you? Any special talents?" He asks her.

She laughs. "Um, I don't think so."

"Oh, come one! There has to be something."

"I like to write."

"Write what?"

"Just stuff. It's not a big thing."

"Well, I'd love to read some of your stuff sometimes. If it's okay with you?"

Lauren nods her head slowly. "Sure. Maybe."

"Good. Good." He says, taking her hand once again causing Lauren to blush and smile sheepishly at him.

Outside; Lauren and Jake are walking hand in hand down the sidewalk.

"I had a really good time, Jake. We should have more friend dates more often." She says, laughing.

"Yeah, we should." He says stopping.

"What are you doing? It's almost ten." Lauren tells him. Jake pulls out a box. "What is this?"

"It's for you. Merry Christmas." He says, handing her the box.

"But Christmas is like two days away."

"And well, I want you to have this now. Open it."

Lauren opens the box revealing a pretty heart necklace with a blue jewel in the middle. "It's gorgeous, Jake. Thank you."

"Of course. I want to be with you, Lauren. Whenever you're ready for me though, okay?" Lauren nods her head. "Okay. Keep it. Let it help you decide." He says, as he kisses her on her lips. Lauren pulls back, a little stunned. "I'll talk to you later."

Lauren watches Jake walk away, as she tries to figure out what just happened. She turns around and opens her front door.

"Hey, how was it?" Cate asks from the living room.

Lauren walks in and sits down next to Cate. She leans in and rests her head on Cate's shoulder. "It was great. How's Lux?"

"She's be okay." Cate notices the box in Lauren's hand. "What's that?"

Lauren opens it. "Jake got it for me. It's suppose to help me decide."

"It's very pretty. What are you going to do?" Cate asks.

Lauren shrugs. "I guess I have to think about it."


	21. And Happy Holidays

It had been a couple days and Lauren still hadn't made her decision about Jake, Lux was still ignoring Jones and Tasha, Cate and Ryan weren't talking to eachother, and Baze was really busy trying to get everything perfect for Christmas. It's two days before Christmas, so Cate, Lauren, and Lux are in the living room decorating the tree.

"How come we waited two days before Christmas to start putting up the tree?" Lux asks them.

"Because Mom is a procrastinator, and/or she just forgot." Lauren replies.

Cate looks at both of them. "Hey! I did not forget. I've just been really busy." She tells them. They both rolls their eyes, laughing. "And anyways, I didn't see you two dragging the tree in here."

Lauren shrugs. "We've been busy, too." She says when the doorbell rings.

"Saved by the bell. I'll get it." Lux says, running over to the door, but before she could open it; Tasha was already coming through. "Tasha."

"Surprised? Lux, what is going on with you?" Tasha asks, annoyed. She had been trying to get in touch with Lux ever since Lux slammed the door in Jones' face. "I've been trying to reach you for three days now. What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Lux tells her. She tries to walks away but Tasha grabs her arm.

"No. It's not nothing. Lux, Jones told me you slammed the door in his face when he tried picking you up for your date."

Lux felt her anger rising up once again. "So, you talked to Jones?"

"Of course. We're all friends, Lux. He's worried about you."

Lux laughs, walking away to the kitchen. "Yeah, I bet."

Tasha follows her. "What's that suppose to mean?"

By this time, Lauren and Cate had stopped what they were doing and are watching them.

"It means I thought you were my best friend!"

Tasha looks at her confused. "I AM your best friend, Lux."

"Really? Then why was my best friend sneaking around the mall with the guy I liked? The guy I was suppose to go on a date with and make things official with. Hm?" Lux asks her.

Tasha freezes and looks at Lux. "What?"

"I seen you and Jones at the food court, Tasha! And don't try to do deny it because Cate and Lauren seen you, too!"

Tasha looks at Cate and Lauren and laughs. Cate and Lauren jump up and turn around. "I think you need to talk to, Jones, Lux." Tasha turns around and walks out the back door.

Lux turns around and leans on the counter. "She's right, Lux." Lux looks up at Cate. "You need to talk to Jones. Find out what really happened."

Lux sighs and turns away. She knew Cate was right and she knew deep down inside that Tasha was right, too.

At Open Bar; Baze and Math are at the bar.

"Dude, this Christmas thing has to be perfect for Lux."

"Man, I don't think Lux is going to care if it's perfect. It's her first Christmas with her mom and dad. I'm sure she'll be fine with whatever." Math tells him.

"Yeah, but I want it to be perfect. Okay?" The bar door opens and a woman walks in. "Oh, we're closed."

"That's fine. I'm here for the bartender position. I found your ad." She tells him.

Math looks at the girl then back at Baze. "Dude.."

She's wearing a small skirt and a small top that showed her cleavage and some of her stomach. She is real tall, very skinny, but fit, and she has dirty blond hair.

"Uh, yeah okay. Lets talk." Baze tells her.

"There's not much to talk about. You need a bartender and I need a job. I can show you what I got tonight, if you're interested."

Baze and Math look at eachother. "Um, yeah, sure. Nine o'clock?"

"Sure." She says heading back to the door.

"Hey, you got a name?" Baze asks her.

She turns around and smiles. "Paige." She says, walking out.

"She's hot." Math says.

"Yeah, she is." Baze says, still staring at the door.

At Cate's; Lux decided to take a break to do some thinking so she went up to her room leaving Cate and Lauren downstairs to finish decorating the tree.

Cate takes out a paper ornament that Lauren made at school when she was five. It is shaped like a christmas tree with her picture in the middle of it. "Aw, Lauren. Look! Do you remember making this?"

Lauren looks at it and smiles. "Yeah. I was so excited to show you and Dad, then you and Dad actually had a real fight about who was going to take it home. You won, of course."

"Of course." Cate laughs, putting it on the tree.

"Do you regret it?" Lauren asks.

"Regret what?"

"I mean if you wouldn't have gave Lux up for adoption then she'd probably have a paper christmas tree with her face in the middle of it, too. And maybe Dad would have that one, but do you regret it?"

"If you mean do I regret putting her up for adoption? Yes. I do. But things happen for a reason. I mean if I didn't then I probably wouldn't have had you, and if I didn't then Lux wouldn't have went through whatever she went through. I wish you and Lux could have grown up together."

"Me too." Lauren says, sadly.

"So, have you thought more about you and Jake?" Cate asks.

Lauren shrugs. "I don't want to get hurt."

"Why do you think you'll get hurt?" Cate asks her, confused.

"Ryan hurt you, and Jones hurt Lux. I'm almost certain I'll get hurt, too. I mean he pretty much already did."

Cate quickly stops what she is doing and takes Lauren to the couch. "Lauren, listen to me. Don't base your decisions on what you see. Ryan and me, we'll be okay."

"Will you, Mom? I mean you can't even tell me what he did that is making you so mad at him."

"It'll be okay." Cate tells her again.

Lauren pulls away from Cate in frustration and stands up. "Stop saying that! I've been avoiding him for you and I don't even know why!"

"Lauren, I never told you to do that."

"I know! But I was doing it for you. I don't want someone in my life who has hurt my mom. Or who has hurt my sister, or my dad!"

Cate smiles softy and stands up in front of Lauren. "Sweetie, we are going to be okay." She says looking sincerely into Lauren's eyes. "But you need to do something for yourself. You've been through so much that a thirteen year old shouldn't even go through. You and Lux both. And I want you two to do things that will make you happy."

"You're not happy."

"I am so happy."

"Okay. Put me and Lux aside, Mom, you're not happy."

"It's just complicated right now, Lauren." Cate tells her as she walks back to the tree.

"Then uncomplicate things! But do it fast; before it's too late." Lauren says walking out the room.

Cate takes a deep breath and stares back at the picture of Lauren in the christmas tree.

Lux knocks on Jones' front door and he opens it.

"Lux, I've been trying to call you for three days now!" He walks outside.

Lux sighs. "Um, I know. I saw you and Tasha."

Jones looks at her confused. "Okay? We were with her everyday."

"No. I seen you and Tasha at the mall the other day. In the food court. Jones if you like Tasha, then just tell me. Don't go behind my back and take Tasha on a date, too." Lux says bitterly. Jones starts laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Come with me." He says leading her to his door.

Upstairs; Jones and Lux walk into his room.

"What are we doing up here?" She asks him.

Jones walks over to his dresser draw and takes out a small jewerly box. "This is for you." He says handing her the box.

Lux takes it and looks at it. "What is it?"

"It's what me and Tasha went to go get for you. I know she's your best friend so I wanted her opinion. Lux, I wanted that night to be perfect." Lux opens the box and reveals a necklace. It has two hearts attached around eachother. "And this screamed your name."

Lux was speechless. She was standing there staring at the necklace trying to find the words. "It's beautiful, Jones. But I don't deserve it. Here." She says trying to hand it back.

Jones shakes his head. "You didn't know. I should have told you. But this necklace is for you, Lux. Who needs a date? We can make it official right here." He moves closer to her. Lux smiles and looks up at him. "Lux, will you take me to be your boyfriend."

Lux laughs. "You're so cheesy. But of course. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He kisses Lux gently on her lips. "I forgive you."

Lux laughs and they start kissing again.

Later at Open Bar; Cate and Lauren walk in and Baze is wiping down the counter.

He looks up and smiles. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Dad. I'll be upstairs." Lauren says running towards the stairway.

Cate rolls her eyes and sits down at a bar stool. "What's wrong with her?" He asks.

"She's just upset with me. Long story."

"Where's Lux?" Baze asks, looking around.

"She'll be by later. She had some stuff to clear up. I thought you were hiring someone to help you around here?" Cate asks.

Baze looks up just as the front door is opening. "We'll see." He says smiling as Paige approaches them. "Hi."

"Here to show you what I got." Paige tells him.

Cate turns around and is immediately stunned. "Paige?"

"Cate?" Paige says, confused. "Why are you here? Where's my brother?"

"Wait. You both know eachother?" Baze asks, curiously.

"Uh, yeah. Paige is Ryan's sister."

"You're Ryan's sister?"

Paige smiles at him. "What? You've met my brother so you're changing your mind?"

Baze laughs. "No. I'm just glad you look nothing like your brother." He throws the towel to her. "Get to work." He says, walking away.

Paige laughs and turns back to Cate. "So, again I ask. Why are you here?"

"I came to drop off my daughter with her dad." Cate tells her.

"Hold up. Baze is Lauren's dad?" Cate nods her head. "That's cool. So, where's my brother at?"

"Um, me and Ryan aren't together anymore. I figured he would have told you that."

"I guess you've forgotten that big bro doesn't tell me everything."

"Do you know anything about Julia?" Cate asks, hopefully.

Paige laughs. "You mean Ryan's ex girlfriend that he almost married? Yeah, I know her."

Cate looks at her wide-eyed. "He almost married her!"

"Oookay. I've said too much already." Paige says making her way behind the bar.

"No, no. Tell me everything you know about her."

"I am not getting into this Cate. I just came here to get away and get a job. And that's what I'm doing."

"Come on! This whole Julia thing is driving me crazy! I just want to know what happened between my fiance and this woman that I know nothing about. I want to know when it happened, where..."

"..how many times."

"Yeah. How long were he and Julia dating?"

Paige starts laughing. "Nice try." Cate rolls her eyes. "Yeah, see, my brother and I probably haven't talked in a long time, but I'm not going to sell him out. I mean if you want the dirt ask him yourself."

"Look, if I knew Julia's last name I would just google her, but I don't. I'll give you hundred dollars if you just tell me everything you know about her." Cate begs.

Paige smiles. "No. I told you I am not getting involved. Ryan could be into midget size hookers and you wouldn't hear it from me."

"You're right. It is not fair to put you in that position."

"Thank you."

"But, um, what are you doing tonight? This?" Cate asks.

Paige looks around. "Uh, yeah. I want this job. I'm an awesome bartender."

"Well, how about I come back tonight. I'll get a few drinks and we can get to know eachother better. I mean we should know eachother better."

Paige stops what she is doing and looks at Cate weirdly. "Why?"

"Aw, come on. After your shift I'll buy you drinks!"

"Alright. Fine. If you're buying; I'm consuming."

"Well, then I'm buying." Cate says, proudly. "See you tonight!" Cate walks to the door while Ryan walks through.

"Cate?"

"Hi, Ryan. I just came to drop off Lauren and visit your sister." She tells him. "See you tonight, Paige!" Cate jumps up in excitement and runs out.

Ryan takes a double take at the bar. "Paige? What are you doing here?" He asks, walking over to her.

Paige puts a glass of beer down on the bar. "Bartending."

Upstairs; Baze walks in to find Lauren finishing Baze's tree.

"Hey, kiddo. I was going to finish that." He tells her.

Lauren shrugs. "Yeah, but I did Mom's today, too, so why not?"

"Are you okay?" He asks, walking up to her.

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I just have a lot of stuff on my mind." She tells him.

"Jake?"

"How'd you know?"

"Kid, I've know you for thirteen years. I think I can read you now." He jokes.

"I just don't know what to do. What if I'm not ready?"

"Well, if you're not ready, then you'll have me, your mom, and Lux to lean back on, and plus I think Jake will understand. He's a good guy."

"For now." Baze looks confused. "Ryan was a good guy, and then he hurts Mom. Jones was a good guy, and then he goes behind Lux's back, and I'm still confused about you."

"How are you confused? I'm a good guy."

"You're a good dad, but seriously, I've seen you with different women almost everyday of my life. That can't be a good thing."

"Okay, Lauren, you can't base your whole life on the people around you.."

"You sound like Mom."

"Well, she's right. Lauren, I can guarantee things are going to be fine. And this is going to be the best Christmas you've ever had!" He says, kissing Lauren on her head.

Later; the bar is crowded with people as Cate walks in. She sees Paige at the bar and walks straight to her.

"So, when you get off?" Cate asks her.

"In two hours. I have to make a good impression on Baze, Cate."

"It's okay. He's my babies daddy. It's all good."

"Babies?"

"Lux. My other daughter. She just came back into my life. Long story. Who wants to drink!" Cate yells.

Paige laughs. "You sure this is your speed? We don't serve cougar juice."

"Just give me two shots, please. Something strong."

"Okay." Paige says taking out two shot glasses and pouring their best vodka into them. "Here ya go."

"No, the other one is for you. Drink up!" Cate says downing her shot.

Upstairs; Lux walks in her room where Lauren is laying down on her bed looking at her locket Ryan had given her for her birthday with their picture in it.

"Hey, what you got?" Lux asks, throwing her bag down.

"Nothing." Lauren says, sitting up. "How was it? Is Jones and Tasha together?"

"Nope. Just a big misunderstanding."

"Told ya."

"But, we are now a officially together." Lux says, showing off her necklace.

"Cute. Congrats."

"Thanks. Have you talked to Jake?"

"No. I'm still thinking about it."

"I really don't understand why you are thinking so hard about this. He's a great guy. Get over it." Lux stresses.

"It's easy for you to say. You found your great guy. What if something happens? What if he finds someone his age and decides he doesn't want to be with me anymore. I cannot handle that right now, Lux."

"Has he found someone?"

"No."

"Is he still annoyingly texting you?"

"Yes."

"I think your safe." Lux tells her as she walks out.

Downstairs; Paige sneaks away behind the bar and gets on her phone.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bug you but we have a situation. Okay, so Cate tried to booze me up to talk about Julia, but beings so I have a tolerancy of a line backer; it kinda back fired, and I have a feeling that she's a sloppy drunk which isn't going to work with my puke phobia." Paige says looking up at Cate who is dancing on the pool tables with a drink in her hand.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me? It's me!" Cate yells throwing her jacket out to the crowd.

"We're at Open Bar. You might want to get down here." She says hanging up the phone.

Upstairs; Lauren and Lux are watching tv.

"It's really loud down there." Lux says.

"Louder than usual." They hear someone yell really loud. "That sounded like Mom."

Lux and Lauren look at eachother, then they both get up and run for the door.

Downstairs; Cate is laying across the bar and Paige pulls up Cate's shirt.

"Alright! She is a deep innie and she's drunk! Who's up for a challenge!" Paige yells out to the crowd that is surrounding them. They all raise their glasses hollering and chanting.

Ryan runs into the bar and stops near Baze and Math who are standing there staring at Cate. "Cate?" Ryan says, in shock.

"Your sister is amazing by the way." Baze tells him.

Ryan glares at Cate and walks over to her. "Hey." He says at a guy who is standing over Cate, who backs away. "Get up. Come on." Ryan pulls Cate off the bar. "Come on. Lets get you home. Before you do something you regret."

"Ya know, Ryan, I've already done things I regret like the things I've already told you about, and with whom I have done them." She tells him. "Whom!" Cate points over to Baze.

Baze turns around then notices that she is talking about him. He slips away grabbing Math with him. "Yeah, I get it." Ryan tells her. "Lets go home."

"No. Listen, if you don't tell me about Julia, I'm just going to go on to play B, which is going on a jag of humiliation of self-destruction." Cate stands there waiting for Ryan to say something, but he just stands there staring at her so she walks passed him.

Lauren and Lux run over to Baze. "Is Mom okay?" Lauren asks.

Baze sighs. "She'll be fine. You two need to go upstairs."

"But.."

"No. Go." He turns them both around and pushes them towards the door.

"Merry Christmas to us." Lauren mumbles as she and Lux head back upstairs.

Back at the bar. Ryan is sitting down, drinking a beer, when Baze sits down next to him.

"I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know my sister was your bartender."

Baze laughs. "Uh, well, this is just her trial run. And I have to say she is doing a pretty damn good job. Look around. I don't think I've had this many people in my bar in years."

Ryan looks over to Cate who is dancing like a fool. "You might have to give your thanks to Cate, too."

"Yeah. Man, about her. I don't think she can feel any worse than how she feels right now. So, maybe you should tell her about this Julia chick, even if it might not help. She deserves to know."

Ryan looks at him and nods his head slowly, contemplating. Paige walks over to them.

"Who knew your ex was a party animal." Paige laughs.

"What are you doing here, Paige? I haven't seen you in months."

"I've been busy. But I decided to come here and settle down with something. Hence the trial run of bartending." She explains.

"Where you staying?"

"Well, I was kinda hoping you could help me with that?" She asks, smiling sweetly.

Ryan starts to speak, but stops when he hears Cate. He turns around and sees her taking her bra off. "Uh oh." Cate says, laughing. Ryan turns around, somberly. He pats Baze on his back as he gets up and walks over to Cate.

"So, how am I doing, boss?" Paige asks.

Baze laughs. "You got the job." He tells her.

Paige jumps up in excitement.

Upstairs; Lauren and Lux are back on the couch, watching tv and eating popcorn.

Lauren looks at Lux, curiously. "Do you know what's going on between Mom and Ryan?"

Lux lets out a deep breath; still staring at the tv. "Yes."

"Can you please tell me. Mom won't tell me anything." Lauren begs.

Lux looks at her. "Maybe there's a reason she isn't telling you."

"Well, I'm not seeing it. If she can tell you then she should have told me, too."

"Maybe she doesn't want you to think of Ryan differently."

"Okay. He has her moping around the house; I think I already do. Come on, Lux! Please!"

Lux puts the popcorn bowl down on the table and turns towards Lauren. "Fine. When Cate and Ryan were broken up that first time; Ryan slept with his ex-girlfriend. And right before the wedding, she told Ryan that she could possibly be pregnant."

Lauren opens her mouth in surprise. "What?"

"She wasn't. It was just a mistake, but Cate is pretty broken up about it. Ryan lied to her."

"Yeah, you're right. I didn't want to know." Lauren says, turning away and watching tv again.

Outside the bar; Cate and Ryan are walking out. Ryan puts his coat around her shoulders.

"I get drunk. And now you want to talk. Just great!" Cate says, walking further in front of him.

Ryan sighs. "Julia and I worked together. That's how we met. We started dating, and I moved in three years later."

"Three years?" Cate questions, turning around. Ryan nods. "You lived with her for three years? Why did it end?" She asks, staring blankly.

"Because I proposed, and she said no." Cate looks away, stunned. "She said she didn't believe in marriage. I guess she didn't believe in marriage to me."

"So, she didn't want to marry you, so what, you settle for me?"

"No! Cate that's not it." He says, walking closer to her. "Her ending it, that's what led me to you."

"Are you over her?" Cate asks.

"I moved on! I proposed to you! I chose you."

"That's not what I asked you." She says, bitterly. "I asked you if you are one hundred percent completely over her?" They stare at eachother, both hurt, both confused, both in wonder.

"No." Ryan says, truthfully. Cate felt like her heart shattered in a million pieces at that very moment. She turns away, angry, and starts to walk away. "Cate." Ryan calls out, following her. "I have feelings for Julia, but how is that different from Baze?" Ryan stops walking as Cate continues with no thought of stopping. "I mean, you went to him the night before our wedding!"

Cate turns around. "You and Julia was not the same thing! Because I told you about Baze!" She yells. "There is a difference."

"No! The only difference is, I could deal with it! I've been dealing with it. That's the reason I wasn't honest. Cause I knew you couldn't handle it!" Cate turns away, begrudingly. "Cate, where you going?"

"I'm getting a cab!" She yells.

"Come on. I'll go with you."

She turns around quickly. "No! I am going home alone!" She yells, sternly, as she continues to walk away and as Ryan continues to watch her walk away from him, again.

The weekend seemed like it went by pretty fast. Lux, Lauren, and Baze stayed in the loft almost all weekend decorating the tree and putting lights out, but they did dedicate one night of Christmas shopping. Cate on the other hand spent her weekend still trying to recover from her eventful night and was very busing avoiding Ryan's phone calls. But all during this weekend, Lauren definitely did some heavy thinking and she finally figure out what she needed to do.

At Jake's house; Lauren knocks on his door. Jake opens it and smiles.

"Hey, Lauren. I've been hoping you'd call me, but showing up at my door, that's better." He says, smiling at her.

Lauren laughs, nervously. "Uh, yeah. I'm sorry. I've just been really busy with my family."

"It's okay." He says, walking outside on the porch. He points to the chairs and they both sit down. "What's going on?"

"I've been thinking a lot about us."

"And?" He says, hopefully.

"And I was watching my mom fall apart over a guy who lied to her, who she really loves, and he broke her heart. And Lux watched her boyfriend go behind her back with her best friend, I mean, that was just a whole big misunderstanding, but still, I seen how hurt she was over the guy that she really loves. And I'm not saying I love you. I don't think we're even close to that, but you did hurt me, Jake. And I've been hurt, by not only you, but by other people, obviously. I don't know. I just don't want to get in to something and have it backfire on me again."

Jake turns away, sadly. "So, you're saying no. Okay, I guess I understand. I'm sorry..."

Lauren shakes her head, confused. "No. What? Jake, that's not what I'm saying."

Jake looks at her. "Okay, you're really confusing me."

"I'm saying, I'll never know if I'll get hurt if I don't try it out. I can't base my decisions on what I see. I have to do things for myself and I need to follow my heart. And my heart is telling me to be with you."

Without hestitation, Jake grabs Lauren and kisses her on her lips. He pulls back and they both start laughing. "Are you sure you're not sixteen?" He asks.

Lauren laughs again, and pulls Jake towards her as they continue to kiss once more.

At Cate's; the doorbell rings and she walks over to it and opens it. Baze, Lux, Lauren, and Tasha are standing there with presents in their hands.

"Merry Christmas!" They all yell.

Cate laughs as she opens the door wider for them to come in. They all run into the living room, dropping their things, and stripping off their coats. Baze turns around and looks at Cate.

"Are you up for this?" He asks.

Cate looks over at Lux and Lauren laughing and she smiles. "Of course. It's Lux's first Christmas with us, right?"

Baze smiles and wraps his arm around Cate and kisses her gently on her head.

They walk over to the kids and sit down next to them. They start exchanging gifts, happily, and excitingly. Lauren crawls over to Cate and smiles at her sadly.

"I heard about you and Ryan." She tells her.

Cate sighs. "Who told you?" Lauren nods her head towards Lux. "But don't be mad at her. I practically had to beg her."

"It's alright. I should have told you."

"No. I'm glad you didn't. I almost wish I didn't beg Lux to tell me, but I understand now. I'm sorry, Mom. But if it makes you feel better you helped me make my decision about Jake." Cate kinks her eyebrows for an answer. "I'm smiling, aren't I?" Lauren asks her.

Cate laughs. "Come here." Lauren hugs her Mom. "I love you. You know that?"

"I love you, too, Mom." Cate kisses Lauren on her cheek as they pull away.

"Okay. Here's to Lux!" Baze yells, and throws a present to Lux. "And to your very first Christmas with us."

Lux smiles, genuinely, and gratefully at them. "This is the best first Christmas I've ever had. With my family." She says, as they all gather up and hug Lux all together causing fits of laughter as they pile up on one another.


	22. Where Is The Love?

After Christmas, things in the Cassidy/Bazile household was finally getting back on track. Lauren and Jake were still going strong, and Lux and Jones were slipping away. Even though things were great around Christmas, but during their break they didn't do a whole lot of hanging out so Lux, as always, pushed herself out of the situation and just continued with her life. She wasn't going to force someone to be there if they didn't want to be. Cate, on the other hand, was still confused as ever on who she wanted to be with. Ryan or Baze? She and Ryan though were together a lot more since their hours were made longer at work and they had to be around eachother 24/7. And Ryan was trying his best to win Cate over, even though he confessed to still having feelings for ex-girlfriend, Julia. Baze was being his normal self. Work and his girls were his main priorities but he still enjoyed his partying. He decided he wasn't going to wait his whole life for Cate to come up with a decision and he sure as hell wasn't going to talk to her about it. He figured he stopped the wedding, slept over at her house to be closer to the girls during Lauren's attack, and he even had Christmas at Cate's house. He did everything. And Cate did nothing.

The last day of Christmas break was coming up though, and no one was happy about it. Instead, they were at their calendars, once again, counting down the days until Easter break, then their summer beak. Their list went on. But back at the house, Lauren and Lux were getting their things together as Lauren talked on the phone with Jake and Lux sat their gagging at their cuteness. When Cate walks into the house with groceries, in her hands, she looks over and smiles at her daughters.

"Ah, school is starting up again. I'm going to miss having you both around so much." Cate tells them.

Lux rolls her eyes. "Oh, please. You were up Ryan's butt this whole break." She tells her.

Cate laughs. "Nevermind. I can't wait until you go back to school."

"Okay. Bye. No, I'll miss you more." Lauren says to Jake. This went on for about another five minutes until Lux got tired of it and hung up the phone for Lauren. "Hey!"

"Hey, nothing. Get a room if you want to talk like that." Lux tells her.

"No one is getting a room in this house. Specially not my thirteen year-old." Cate says, as she puts the groceries away.

Lauren stands up and walks towards the kitchen as she sits down on the barstool. "Lux is just jealous because she can't talk to Jones like that anymore."

"1. I've never talked to Jones like that. Ever. 2. I'm not jealous. And 3. Get a life."

"Whatever." Lauren laughs.

Cate rolls her eyes. She was definitely going to miss the sister bickering Lauren and Lux finally developed. Suddenly, her thoughts were pulled away with the sound of her cell phone. "Oh. Hello?" She answers. Pause. "But I just left there." Pause. "Uh, okay. I'm on my way." Cate finishes, hanging up. "I have to go back to the station. I'll be back in a couple hours." She yells, making her way towards the door. "Oh. Call your dad. Make him get you dinner." She says, walking out.

At the studio; Cate and Ryan are sitting down in their bosses office.

"What are we doing here? Again. Five minutes later." Cate asks, sarcastically.

Trina rolls her eyes before she begins. "Well, we kinda wanted to keep this on a low key during the Christmas holidays. Just to first see how things would go with the longer hours."

"What are you talking about?" Ryan asks.

"We found you a new co-host." She tells them.

Cate and Ryan exchange confusing looks. "What do you mean new co-host?" Cate asks.

"Her name is Kelly. And I think it's time we revamp the show. Make it more interesting. We've been having Cate and Ryan for years now. Don't you think it's time for a change?"

"Change? We've been Cate and Ryan for years now for a reason. They like us. Why add someone else into the mix?" Cate asks.

"I know it's awkward. But the audience we have, they're not going anywhere, but we need to reach out the audience we don't have."

"What does that mean?" Cate asks.

Ryan sighs, knowing exactly what it meant. "It's a nice way of saying the show sucks and they want more people to listen."

"Exactly. We don't want a show about boring people. And recent lovers, then lovers again, the recent lovers..it's getting old. Kelly offers a new perspective. She's just written her third book. She can sex up the show while solving you're relationship problems."

"What problems?" Ryan asks. "We aren't in a relationship. So, why does it matter?"

"I am sorry. This is a two person show! We cannot have three co-hosts!" Cate says, frustrated. "Co means two." Cate looks over at Ryan who gives her small smile. "Doesn't it?" She questions.

Outside the office; Cate and Ryan are walking towards their car. Cate was walking furiously towards her's as Ryan was walking behind trying to calm her.

"It could be worse." He says.

"By someone who is trying to pick apart our relationship, that we don't even have? What can be worst than that?" Cate asks.

Outside Baze's bar; Lux is walking down the street thinking when she slips into the bar. It was just Jamie there so she walks towards him.

"Hey, Jamie." She says. "Is Baze around?"

"He just left. We've missed you and your sister around here." He tells her.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of me." She says, sadly.

"Alright. Good. I'm head upstairs for awhile. Tend the bar." He jokes, before heading up to the loft.

A couple hours later; Lux is standing behind the bar cutting up some lemons when a guy walks in.

"Wow. This place is popular." The guys says as he walks in and notices that no one was in.

Lux glares up at him. "We're closed."

"Come on. I just moved here and my friend told me that you have sheep dog ale." He tells her rushing towards the bar.

Lux stands firmly, not giving in to the guy. "Well, then I guess your friend forgot to mention our business hours."

The guy sulks down. "Kinda cute, but kinda bitchy look." He says, turning back around towards the door.

"Okay. Wait. Wait Wait." Lux says, stopping him. "I'm sorry. Uh, let me see your I.D." Lux intends her hand out waiting for the guy to give in. He walks over to her, smiling, and takes out his I.D. handing it over to her. Lux looks at it carefully. "Minnesota." She says, still looking at it. The guy nods his head, confirming that she is indeed correct. "Definitely a fake." She looks him up and down. "5'9"? She questions, amused.

"Sure."

"Alright. Fine." She laughs. "Just one. But then you have to get out of here Eric Allister Daniels."

Eric laughs, taking his coat off and sitting at on of the barstools. "You're a goddess."

"Yeah."

Back in town, Cate had needed some time to breathe and think so she went for a walk around the park. Baze was also needing to think and for some reason he thought the park was the best thinking spot also. Until he ran into Cate.

"I came to park for peace. Not annoyance." Cate says, looking up at Baze.

"I came looking for the same. Don't worry." He says, but still walking the same way Cate is. Cate stops and glares at him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm walking. Not my fault I just so happen to be walking the same way as you." He tells her. Cate rolls her eyes as she continues to walk. "So, how are the girls?"

Cate stops and turns towards Baze. "You just seem them yesterday. What is wrong with you?"

"I love you." He blurts out, unexpectantly. "And I should have said it that night on my deck when you said that you loved me. I should have it whenever I slept over to watch over Lauren. I should have said it so many time. But I was just trying to let you be happy. So, I lied." Cate watches him talk, in confusion and anger. "It's not fair to you, or to Ryan, or even to Lauren and Lux, or to me."

"Screw you." She says, turning away.

"Cate! Cate, wait!"

"You know something? First of all, I didn't say I love you." She says turning back towards him. "I said what if a part of me was in love with you? Which is a totally different thing!"

"Not really."

"Well, you know, second of all what's not fair? This. Begging for me to hear you out. Telling me something that I already know. What do you think, Baze, that I thought you were storming into the church to tell me I had a parking ticket? Or sleeping on my couch because yours suck?"

"Listen to me! I am not trying to make you hate me more! I just want to fix things with you. I want us to be like we were before. Before all the drama and heartache happened." He explains.

"Well, you can't fix things with me, Baze. Because we are broken. We're always going to be broken." Cate says, as Baze watches in shock and pain. Cate had nothing more to say. She couldn't take looking into Baze's eyes and seeing his pain. It was just like looking into Lux and Lauren's eyes. And after everything that was happening to her today she just couldn't do it anymore. So, she walked away. Baze stood there watching Cate walking away from him. He had nothing to say. Nothing he could get out from his throat and into his mouth. Nothing.

Back at the bar; Lux and Eric are shooting darts and talking.

"Rocco's. Best pizza in Portland." She tells him. "And Voodoo Donuts.."

"Let me guess!" Eric interrupts. "Best donuts?"

Lux laughs. "No. They're okay."

"So, are you in college?" Eric asks her, curiously.

Lux laughs, nervously, as she leans against the table facing him. "Not exactly. There's a lot of things I haven't...done yet." She tells him.

"Mm. Like what?"

"I don't know. I mean I've done a lot things, but I want to do normal things. When I seen your I.D. I forgot that Minnesota even existed! And I haven't even seen the ocean!" Lux exclaims.

"Alright. Well, if you think that going see the ocean is going to help you, then go see the ocean." Eric tells her, as he walks over to the dart board.

"You make it sound so easy." Lux says, sarcastically.

"It is. You could go tonight. I mean we can go." He tells her. Lux looks at him strangely. She had just met the guy and he was already trying to take her somewhere. "If you want."

"Right. Because getting into a car with a stranger isn't the dumbest move ever."

Outside; on Cate's porch. Jake and Lauren are sitting on the swing together.

"This is nice." Lauren says, looking out into the neighborhood.

Jake puts his arms tightly around Lauren's shoulders and smiles down at her. "Yeah. It kinda is."

"But then there's Monday and this will soon end and we'll be back at school, going to classes, and once again having our tutoring sessions in the library." Lauren says, sadly.

"Why are you sad about that?" Jake asks. "Me and you. Alone. It'll be our time together away from everyone. I mean it's not like we'll be able to hang out all day; everyday like we were doing. So, it'll be worth it."

Lauren chuckles. "You would try to make tutoring sexy."

"Hey. I'm just saying."

After a moment of silence, Cate walks up to the house and smiles at her daughter and boyfriend. "Well, well. Is my porch swing like your spot now?" She asks, amusingly.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "Don't be jealous, Mom. It's unbecoming of you."

Cate taps Lauren's cheek lightly. "Very funny. I cannot wait till you're back at school." She says, walking into the house. "Hey, where's Lux?"

"I think she went over to Dad's." Lauren answer back.

After another moment of silence Jake takes a deep breath and rubs Lauren's arm soothingly. "Who would have thought after everything you're parents would be cool with us dating. Considering the age difference."

"My parents are pretty cool." Lauren tells him, but then smiles. "Or maybe it just took me running from them and you to realize how much you mean to me."

Jake looks down meeting Lauren's green eyes with his blues and smirks. "That's not funny. And it's crazy how you can laugh about it now."

Lauren shrugs. "I can't change what happened, but I can move on from it."

Jake sits up and turns towards Lauren so that he can see her better. He didn't look happy about what Lauren just said and she could tell that this was definitely about to be serious. "Lauren, what happened to you was not right. It never will be. So, it's okay to still be mad about it."

"Why should I still be mad about it?" Lauren asks. "I can't change it, Jake. I went through my emotions and now I'm in a better place. Why should I go back when I need to move forward? But you're right. It was wrong and it's nothing to laugh about, but I'm not going to spend my whole life pissed off about it. I have my family back and I have you. That's all that matters."

Jake cups Lauren's cheek, lovingly, with his hand. "You know I'd never hurt you, right?" Lauren nods her head, slowly, as she stares up at Jake's sensitive eyes. "I love you, Lauren."

Lauren blinks a couple times trying to understand what Jake just said. She pulls back and just looks at him, confused. "You what?"

"I love you." Jake repeats. "I been meaning to tell you, but I was just waiting for the right moment. I mean it, Lauren. I love you."

Lauren still couldn't believe it. "Wow." She says, quietly. "Um, Jake."

"You don't have to right away. I just want you to know how I feel." He says before leaning back against the swing. He pulls Lauren to him, so that she is leaning against his chest. Lauren just stared out into no where. She had no idea how she was feeling at the moment about Jake's little outburst. She was definitely in a state of shock right now.

At the bar; the place is filled with people when Baze walks in.

"Baze! Hey, man. Have a nice walk?" Jamie asks him.

Baze walks over to him, looking defeated. "No. Not really."

"Here." Jamie hands Baze a piece of paper. "Lux came by earlier. She left you this."

Baze takes the piece of paper and starts reading it. "Came by to see you. Back at Cate's. I'll catch up with you later." He reads. "Great. Nothing is going right today."

Jamie pushes Baze towards the bar. "No worries man. Just check out our amazing bartender!"

"Hey, Paige."

Paige puts a beer on the bar for Baze. "Take a load off. You look like ya need it." She tells him.

"You're good." He says, grabbing the beer.

On the road; Eric is driving and Lux is looking a little nervous.

"We are going to the Pacific, right?" She asks. Eric looks at her and smiles. "You said it was two hours away. I didn't know it would take all night." Lux jokes.

"If you want to turn around we can." He tells her.

Lux shakes her head. "It's okay." Suddenly the car starts making a weird noise and Lux looks back, fearful. "What was that?"

Eric looks down at his dashboard. "Damnit."

"Damnit? Why Damnit?" Lux asks anxiously. Outside the car; Lux and Eric are standing out of the car. "Seriously! Who runs out of gas?"

"No. It's my truck. I swear I just got the gas gauge fixed!" Eric explains.

Lux takes out her phone and tries to get a signal by putting her phone in the air and spinning around, but she was getting no luck. "Okay, well, I have no signal and I'm sorry but my phone is almost dead."

Eric puts his hand out when he sees a car about to pass. "Hold on. I got a good feeling about this one." He says, just as the car pulls over in front of his truck.

"Oh, no. No. No. I am not getting into a car with some random freak. Again."

Eric puts his hands on Lux, securely. "Don't worry. I'm gonna give them money to go get us some gas." He says, walking towards the car.

Lux laughs. "Yeah. Cause I'm sure he'll come back." She says, trying to get signal off her phone again.

"Buck up, Eeyore. People. They might surprise you." He says, grabbing his gas can from the back of his truck and running towards the car. Lux just rolls her eyes, knowing good and well this was all a bad idea. She also knew either Baze or Cate were probably trying to call her, too.

At Cate's; Cate is in her living room reading a book when Lauren comes downstairs.

"I hate this woman!" She yells.

Lauren looks at her mom weirdly. "Uh, okay. I won't come downstairs again." She tells her.

Cate smirks at her daughter. "No. I'm reading this stupid book that this stupid woman wrote who is about to be on my freakin show!"

"Don't you have guest all the time? What's the big deal?" Lauren asks, as she grabs herself a water and walks back into the living room sitting down by her mom.

"No. She won't be guest. They actually want her to be like a third wheel with me and Ryan."

"Wait. What? It's not just going to be you and Ryan anymore?" Cate shakes her head. "Well, that sucks. Since you two are together anymore I would have thought people would love to listen to you together."

Cate glares at Lauren. "Even though that was mean; I thought the same thing! I just don't understand how you can just throw someone new into the mix and we don't even get a say." Cate looks over at Lauren who wasn't really paying attention to her babbling, but more towards her phone. "Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Lauren looks up at her mom. "Yeah. I'm listening, but I been trying to call Lux and she is not answering her phone! I mean does she ever have freakin service!"

"She called earlier and said she was staying at your dad's." Cate tells her as she continues to look at the book.

Lauren looks at her mom in surprise. "Why didn't she tell me? What if I wanted to stay at Dad's, too?"

"Babe, I'm sure she just wasn't thinking. Plus you had Jake over and we really don't like to interrupt you guys sappy moments."

"Very funny."

"So, let me focus on you for right now."

"Oh, gee, thanks." Lauren says, bitingly.

"Hush it. Are you ready for school Monday? I know you and Jake won't be seeing eachother as often as you are now. Are you okay with that?" Cate asks.

Lauren shrugs. "Well, Jake pointed out that we have tutoring together still so we will be together then."

"For tutoring. No making out. No you're cute; no you're cute kinda stuff. I really want you to end this semester with a good grade in Math."

"No worries, Mom. I have it all undercontrol. Chill." Lauren assures her. "Plus, Coach is giving me a shot at trying out for the soccer team again. Since I missed it due to all that stuff." She says, nonchantley. "So, I have to do good in Math to stay on the team."

Cate just shakes her head and smiles at her daughter. "That's great, honey. I know you'll do well. And I'm glad to see that you are more confident about it now."

"No biggie." She says, turning herself back to her phone as Cate turns back to the book.

"Ugh!" They both says in unison.

At the bar; Paige and Baze are closing up.

"Alright. That's the last of them." Paige says, as she wipes the counter down.

"Oh. Good." Baze says. Paige lights up a cigarette, but Baze quickly takes it out of her mouth. "Oh, no. You can't smoke inside. It's bar rules." He says, putting the now unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"That's what I miss about Bolly." Paige tells him. "There you can smoke at a gas station while holding three babies."

"You are crazy."

"You tell me." She says. "Or you're too drunk to find out?"

Baze stands up and kisses Paige hard on the lips. They stay in a full out make out session as they make their way upstairs to the loft.

Outside; Eric and Lux are laying down in the back of Eric's truck.

"You admit it now?" Lux asks him.

Eric takes a deep breath. "That guys not coming back."

"Finally!" Lux sits up. "Alright. We're walking." She says, as she crawls out the truck.

Eric gets out as well and starts following Lux. "What? He might come back. Why would he have taken to the money."

Lux laughs. "You're a good person." She starts. "You were willing to drive to the beach in the middle of the night just so that I can see the ocean. Ya know, maybe it's a sign. I mean if it was this hard to get to the ocean, then maybe I'm not suppose to see it. Maybe that's the point. Whatever else is out there; doesn't really matter. What matters is what I already know." She explains.

Eric stops and looks up before looking back at Lux. "You may be looking at the wrong signs." Lux gives him a confused look, before following his gaze up to the sign. Eric grabs her arms and pulls her towards it. "Come on."

Eric starts climbing the ladder, but Lux stops and looks at him like he was an insane person. "I'm sorry. What are you doing?"

Eric touches the sign, excitingly. "Come on. The waters fine!" He yells. Lux thinks for a moment before following him up the ladder. "So, what do you think?"

Lux laughs. "Wooow. I think you're kinda crazy." She touches the sign as well, still laughing at how ridiculous it all felt.

"How is the ocean?" He asks, amused.

"It's a little smaller than I pictured. And it kinda smells like paste, but I love the view." She says, sincerely.

"So, does it help?" He asks, hopefully.

"You don't even know me. At all. And I don't even care that this isn't a real ocean, but it helps. Thanks." They stare at eachother for a few seconds before Eric leans in and kisses Lux, gently, on her lips. Lux was pretty unsure about what was happening at that moment, but it felt right and she wasn't going to complain. They pulls apart when they see lights flashing their way. Lux chuckles when she notices who it is. "They came back."

"Come on." Eric says, going down the ladder then helping Lux as well.

Back at the loft; everyone is sleeping except for Paige who is wrapped up in Baze's arms. She slowly slips out and starts putting her clothes back on. She goes downstairs to the bar and lights a cigarette. Paige takes the cash that is sitting on the bar counter and stuff it into her pocket. Before she walks out she puts the cigarette into the trashcan and walks out just as Lux and Eric pull up. Eric takes out a piece of paper and starts writing something down.

"My number." He says. "Incase you want to go see something else."

Lux laughs as she takes the paper from Eric. "I'll, um, well, thank you. For showing my the ocean, Minnesota."

"Anytime, Eeyore."

They kiss one last time before Lux heads back to the bar. Eric turns around and smiles as he watches her. They were both wondering what just happened. Life was definitely crazy.

At the station; Ryan and Cate are back on air, plus with another person.

"Goooood Moooorning, Pooortland!" Ryan says into the mic. "Cate and I are back from her Christmas break."

"And we did not come empty handed." Cate says. She was still very unhappy about all this and was not looking forward to this day at all.

"We'd like to introduce the latest addition to Morning Madness. Best selling author; and marriage expert Kelly Campbell. Kelly, welcome."

"Nice to meet you, Portland." She says, giggling into the mic. Cate rolled her eyes; already annoyed and they were just starting. "And it's great to be here with you, Ryan." Ryan and Cate exhange looks. "And Cate."

At the loft; Baze awakes, startled, when the smoke alarm starts going off. He starts sniffing the air and instantly becomes frightened.

"Jamie! Math!" He yells, grabbing some clothes. Jamie and Math walk in and start sniffing the air as well. "Do you smell that?"

"Is that smoke?" Math asks.

"The bar!" Jamie yells, as the three of them run downstairs.

The bar is in flames from head to toe when they rush in. Baze looks around stunned. His bar was on fire and there was nothing he could do about it. Jamie and Math have to push Baze out the door so they wouldn't inhale the smoke.

At the station; Kelly, Ryan, and Cate were already at it. Cate wanted to pretty much kill Kelly, while Ryan tried to mend fences and keep everyone calm. During this time Cate's phone would not stop ringing, but she kept ignoring it.

"So, you should have called your book you can't have it all at the same time?" Ryan asks.

Kelly sighs. "Ryan, don't be so literal. The Color Purple isn't about crayons." She jokes. Cate rolls her eyes. "Face it. Cate probably has no idea what her kids are up to most of the time." Cate scoots back and smiles, evily, like she was ready to pounce on Kelly at any second. "Her career has been in a holding pattern and with her focus rubbed so thin, her relationships are completely opened to the next crisis." Cate looks down at her phone that was once again buzzing but this time it was a text from Lauren telling her about the fire. Cate runs out and Ryan quickly turns the conversation around.

"Alright. Why don't we take some calls?"

At the bar; Lauren runs up to Baze, Math, and Jamie alarmed as she watches the fire blow out the front window.

"Dad!" She yells. Baze grabs Lauren and hugs her.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here." He tells her.

"I want to be here. I called Mom. She should be on her way." Suddenly Baze's phone rings and he answers it when he sees it's Cate.

"Cate, take my calls next time!" He yells into the phone.

"It's not like I knew the bar was on fire! I'm glad that you're okay. Can I talk to Lux?" She asks.

"What?" Baze asks, confused.

"Can I talk to Lux?" She yells!

"Lux isn't here. That's why I'm calling."

Cate freezes in shock. "No, no! She said that she stayed at the bar last night. She stayed at the bar last night." Cate says again, trying to convince not only Baze but herself. "She never came home. She told me she was staying with you."

Baze looks back and forth to the bar and then at Lauren who was looking at him confused on what was happening on the other end of the phone call. "Cate, she's not here."

"Lux is here!" Lauren yells in panic.

"Are you 100% sure she is not there?" Cate asks him.

"No. No. I didn't see her." Baze says, trying to run back into the bar but Jamie and Math grab him. "I didn't see her!"

"Daddy!" Lauren yells as Baze break away and runs into the bar.

"I got to get Lux!"

At the hospital; Cate is walking to the waiting room while she is on the phone.

"No. He is still with doctor. We haven't heard anything yet. Uh, huh. I've left about 800 messages for Lux." She says just as she sees Lux down the hall. "Hey. She's fine. She's here. I'm gonna go." Cate says in hurry, hanging up the phone. Lux runs over to Cate and hugs her tightly.

"I am so sorry. I got your messages. My phone was dead." Lux explains to her. "Is Baze okay?"

"Uh. We don't really know. We are still waiting to hear something." Cate tells her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Lauren storms up to Lux and Cate and looks furious at Lux. "Where the hell were you!" She asks her.

Cate grabs Lauren trying to hold her back. "What?"

"Where were you Lux?" Cate asks her this time.

"I was at Tasha's, and by the time I went home you had already left for work." Lux explains.

"So, you lied to me and Baze about sleeping at the other persons house, and you snuck back in after you knew that I was gone? Do you have any idea what you put us through? We were going out of our minds worried about you!"

"Okay. Cate! I screwed up! I'm sorry. Is he going to be okay?" Lux asks, worried.

"Lux, he ran into a burning building because I told him you were in there." Cate tells her. "So, no. He's not really going to be okay."

"Thanks to you." Lauren says bitterly, walking away.

Lux watches Lauren walk away and Cate look at her, furiously. She did all this for a guy, and now Baze, her dad, could be seriously hurt. "Relatives for Nathaniel Bazile?" The doctor announces, walking into the waiting room.

Cate and Lux walk up the gang. "How's my son?" Baze's dad asks.

"He suffered smoke inhalation, so we still have him on oxygen and he's groggy. We'll keep him on pain killers to treat the second degree burns." The doctor explains. "But he's gonna be fine."

"Can we see him?" Lauren asks.

"Maybe just one of you right now for a few minutes."

They all look at eachother but suggest that Cate go in there first. Lux turns towards Lauren when Cate walks away, but Lauren wouldn't even look at her. Instead, she walks away to the other side of the room. She was furious at her sister right now. If she was just home like she was suppose to then her dad never would have ran back instead. He wouldn't be in the hospital right now. Lux knew it was her fault and she felt horrible about it. But now she just had to make it up to everyone and make things better once again.

Cate walks slowly into Baze's hospital room. He is just laying there with his earphones in listening to music. Cate pokes him gently which shakes him out of his music state. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiles.

"Word on the street is that you're going to be okay." She tells him.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Lux is here. She's fine. Ya know, I heard you ran back into that building I would never want what I said at that park to be last thing I say to you." She tells him. "Lux...she loves you. Lauren loves you. Whether or not they think that we should be together it has nothing to do with how much they love you." Cate takes Baze's hand in hers. "You should know that."

Baze smiles up at her. "I lost everything."

"Okay. Well, they said that most of the damage was inside the bar. The loft is still livable."

"Not just the bar." Cate looks at him, puzzled. "You. I just don't want you to hate me. What I said in the park was selfish. And I don't want to be selfish.

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you."

Just before Baze could say anything the door opens again and Lauren walks in slowly. "I just need to know myself that you're okay."

Cate and Baze smile at their daughter as she approaches the side of Baze's bed. Baze grabs Lauren's hand and kisses it softly. "I'm fine, kiddo." He assures her.

Cate brushes her fingers through her daughter's hair. "Don't ever do that again, okay? I need you, Dad."

"I won't. I promise. I need you, too."

"Alright. Come on. Let's give your dad some rest." Cate says, grabbing Lauren's hand.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." He says, smiling.

Lauren nods her head as she follows her mom to the door. "Hey, Cate." Cate stops and face Baze again. "It wouldn't have mattered."

"What?"

"If I gotten to the church early. It wouldn't have mattered."

Cate didn't know what to say to that. She didn't have the guts to correct him. "Get some rest." She says, before turning and leaving out of the room.

At the station; Ryan is sitting at the desk staring at the floor when Cate walks in. He stands up as soon as he sees her.

"Hey."

"I'm just gonna get my stuff and go." Cate says, walking around her desk.

Trina walks into the room. "We need to talk." She tells them.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I just ran off. There was a fire at Baze's bar, but everyone is fine..."

"We're letting you go." Trina interrupts.

"Go where?"

"Cate, they're um.." Ryan couldn't finish his sentence.

"We're firing you." She tells Cate.

"What? Because I left for an emergency?" She asks, confused. "So, you're firing me?"

"It's not because you left. It's not secret; I've never been a fan. I fine you grading, abrasive..."

"Trina. Enough." Ryan stops her.

"You both knew ratings were down. We've wanted to make a change for awhile now, and you leaving today gave us a change to give Ryan a chance with someone else. You've said it yourself, Cate. It's a two person show." Cate had no idea what to even say. She just stood there taking what Trina was throwing at her. And it was frankly starting to piss her off. "Ryan and Kelly debute tomorrow." Trina finally finishes before walking away.

"Hey, look. I'm so sorry." Ryan says. "It's gonna be alright."

"Yeah, well, I guess Kelly was right. I can't have it all." Cate says, as she starts packing her things.

At the bar; Baze and his dad walk in to the look at all the damage that happened. Baze couldn't believe what he was seeing. He lost everything. Everything. It was all burnt and in pieces.

"Well, the construction is still in tact." His dad says. "I spoke to the fire chief and he said he found remains of a cigarrette."

"Uh. Paige." Baze says, simply.

"Huh?"

"Paige. Our new bartender. Well, our ex-new bartender." Baze explains.

"Yeah, but they said the fire started in the morning." Baze just looks at his dad and his dad shakes his head. "Aw, Nate. Come on. What..." But his dad stops when he looks at his son's face. Now was not the time.

"I'm sorry." Baze throws down a pieces of wood before turning back to his dad. "I want to be the one to fix this. I want to be the one to make this right. I want to rebuild this bar from the ground up. Fix everything else in my life that is broken." Baze's dad just puts his arm around his son in support.

That morning, Lauren and Lux weren't talking at all, well, Lauren was avoiding anything Lux. And on their first day to school she was going especially make sure she didn't speak to Lux. She was still mad at her for not being there and she wasn't sure how long it was going to even take for her to get over it. They made their way out of the house and down the stairs to the car with Cate, who was bringing them to school.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here? Alone?" Lauren asks, nervously.

"Yeah, well, I can keep a better eye out on Lux now to make sure she is where she is suppose to be." Cate tells her.

Lux just rolls her eyes as she walks to the car. "I don't think that is going to be a problem anymore."

Just before they reach Cate's car, they all stop when they notice Baze standing outside his truck waiting for them. Lux quickly turns around to face Cate. She wasn't sure if she could face Baze. "Lux, it's okay. You can't avoid him forever." Cate tells her. "Go and talk to him."

Lux and Baze share glances and he gives her small wave before she makes her way to him. Cate wraps her arm around Lauren as they watch the scene before them. Lux walks up to Baze and hugs him tightly around his neck making him laugh a little. "I'm sorry you got hurt. I hurt you."

"It's okay, kiddo."

"No, it's not. Everything. It's my fault."

Baze puts his hand around Lux's face. "Hey. I am done beating myself up with things I should have done differently from the start. We're going to move forward and everything is going to better than ever." Lux lets a few tears fall as she reaches around Baze's waist and hugs him. Baze puts his arms gently around Lux and they just hold eachother as Cate and Lauren watch.

At school; Lux walks upstairs and sees Eric down the hall. They both see eachother and laugh nervously.

"No way." Lux says. "You go here? I'm such a sucker. I knew that I.D. was a fake."

Before Eric could respond, Math was walking up to them. "I see you've met Mr. Daniel." He tells her.

"What?" Lux asks. She was starting to get a really unsetteling feeling about what was about to be said.

"He is the newest addition to the English department. He is feeling in while Mrs. Copeland is on maternity leave." Math explains.

"You're a.."

"...Teacher." Eric finishes. "I'm guessin from the backpack, you're a.."

"..Yeap." They both just stood there staring at eachother in confusion and amazement.

-Welcome back to Westmonte!-


	23. Anywhere But Here

It had been a few days since the fire and everyone was trying to get their life back on track. Baze is at his loft getting ready to do some job interviews. He was dressed in a button up shirt and tie. Very unlike Baze. Cate, on the other hand, was still in bed when she hears the girls downstairs in the kitchen. Lux is standing in her room, in front of her mirror, as she goes through all her clothes to find the perfect outfit for school. Lauren, not so much. She didn't care about finding the perfect outfit for school, instead she was focused on soccer. She sat in the living room getting her soccer gear together when Cate comes downstairs fully dressed.

"Hey. You're almost ready?" Cate asks her.

Lauren throws her soccer ball in the air and catches it. "Definitely. I cannot wait for tryouts."

Cate turns the radio on and they listen to the announcer introduce Ryan and his new co-host, Kelly Campbell. Paige comes in and sees Cate in the kitchen. "Whoa. Hey. Look at you being all domestic. And what are you doing up so early? Isn't one of the upsides of getting canned is that you can sleep 'till noon?" Paige asks her.

"Yeah, I have a meeting with my agent. And what are you even doing here? You know Ryan doesn't live here anymore, right?"

Paige shrugs as she walks into the kitchen. "Yeah, well, I figured you have room now and since my big bro won't take me in; why not live off of you until I find my own place."

Lauren laughs, but stops when she receives a glare from Cate. "Oh, Gee, thanks, Paige." Lux comes downstairs in a dress, which shocks both Cate and Lauren. "Well, look at you. In a dress." Cate says, as she twirls Lux around.

"Everything was dirty." Lux tells her.

"Or she's just trying to impress someone." Lauren says, as she also makes her way into the kitchen.

"Shut up." Lux says, annoyingly.

"Nice boots." Paige tells her.

"Hey, Aunt Paige." Lux says before looking over at Cate who gives her a questioning look. "What? She asked me to call her that." Suddenly, the horn goes off outside and Lux hurries and grabs a banana and her bag before running passed Cate. "That's my ride."

"But I'm making breakfast." Cate tells her.

Lauren grabs her bag and walks over to Cate. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean with Ryan at work and you here?"

"Hey. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm sure there is something else out there for me."

The front door opens and in walks Baze. "Hey, I honked. Are you ready?" He asks, Lauren.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Lauren says, running passed Baze.

"And what are you doing up so early? I thought you got.." He pretends to be slitting his throat.

Cate just rolls her eyes. "Fired." She tells him. "Yes. Yes, I did. Thank you so much for the reminder."

"So, what's going on here? Wait. You got drunk and trashed the place? Been there." He says to Lauren.

Lux laughs from behind as she plays with her phone by the front door. "No. Ryan's sister is staying with us."

"Hm. Picturing Ryan in a dress. Doesn't do it for me." He says.

"Alright. That's fine. Let's go." Cate says, walking towards them.

"Bye, Mom!" Lauren yells, following Lux and Baze out the door.

Cate stands around in the now empty house. This was something she was definitely going to have to get use to, she thought."

In the car; Lux and Lauren are staring weirdly at Baze as he drives.

"What's with the tie?" Lux asks. "I haven't seen you this dressed up since my adoption. What? Are we getting another kid?" She jokes.

"And if we are then I'm moving in with you." Lauren tells him.

Baze laughs. "More like another job." He tells them. "Until the insurance comes through, the bar is closed. Which means no income and my dad got me an interview."

"Wait. You're actually letting Grandpa help you?" Lauren asks, confused. "That's a first."

"Well, it's at his management firm."

Lux looks up. "Hm. I'm trying to picture you behind a desk instead of a bar."

"Kinda weird." Lauren says.

"I know!" Baze agrees. "But it could be good. Hm?" He says, looking back and forth to Lauren and Lux. "Alright. What's your excuse? Who'd you dress up for? Is it Jones? I liked him. What happened with him anyway?"

Lauren sits up and looks at Lux, closely. "Yeah. What did happen to him?" She asks.

Lux rolls her eyes. "No. Incase you haven't noticed I'm not exactly quarterback type."

"Well, I was a quarterback and trust me we didn't have a type." He says, pulling up to the school.

"Ew. Gross, Dad." Lauren says, grabbing her things.

"Jones dates cheerleaders not someone who's only been to the dentist twice."

"Well, after today you're going to have a daddy who works nine to five in an office, and a mom who stays home sniffing cleaning products." Baze tells her making her laugh. "You can't get more normal. And we're going to work on that dentist situation. Alright, ladies, here we are. Lauren kick some ass at tryouts."

"You know it." She says, getting out the car.

"And whoever you're all dressed up for is one lucky kid." Lux just stares at him and smiles when she notices something.

"Did you know that you have a beer stain on your tie?" She tells him.

Baze looks down and starts to continously wipe his tie with spit and his finger.

In school; Lux walks into class, but stops when she sees Eric with his shirt unbuttoned revealing his cut chest and stomach.

"Whoa. Uh, sorry. I was just..."

"It's okay. I thought I locked it. I'm just crashing at a buddies place until I find an apartment." He explains, as he zips up his bag and throws into the closet. "What's up?"

"Uh, nothing. I was just thinking that maybe we should talk about what happened the other night." Just before Eric could respond, Math walks in.

"English 1 syllabus." He says, throwing the papers down on a desk.

"Thank you."

"Lux, hey. You do know you're in the wrong class, right? I'm next door."

Lux chuckles. "Oh. Yeah. I was just asking Mr. Daniels if he had an extra copy of Great Expectation laying around."

Math sighs. "Lux. You gotta be more careful next time." He says, pulling out the book out of his bag. "That's the second time that's happen." He gives Lux the book. "Read it. Learn it. Love it."

Lux grabs the book and gives Math a small grateful smile. "Got it."

Math opens the classroom door and waits for Lux to follow him. "Lux, you coming?"

Lux removes her gaze from Eric and looks at Math. "Oh, yeah!" She says, quickly walking out the room.

Out on the soccer field; Lauren walks up in her uniform with her soccer ball under her arm.

"Alright, Bazile. Are you ready for this?" Coach asks her.

Lauren looks up and sees Jake sitting the stands. She was no expecting to see him yet or even expect him at her tryout. But she couldn't focus on that right now, she had to get on this team. "Yes, sir. I am." Lauren says, confidently.

"Let's get going!" Coach throws the soccer ball out of the field and all the girls run after it. Lauren was able to manuver herself around the girls to get to the ball. She kicked it, following it towards the goal, when she got close she kicked it as hard as she could and made it dead on into the net. She jumps up excitingly and starts high-fiving the girls. Lauren's ears perk up when she hears clapping and yelling from the stand. She turns to see Jake standing up and hollering her way. Lauren kept telling herself that couldn't be distracted. Her focus was the game, so about an hour of tryouts Coach blew his whistle and they were all excused from the field.

Jake walks down the bleachers and over to Lauren who runs over to him. "I didn't know you were coming." She says.

He smiles. "I thought I'd surprise you. You were really good."

"Thanks." Lauren takes a few sips of her water.

"So, when will you know if you made the team?" He asks.

"I'll know later. We'll catch up though. I have to go get cleaned up." She tells him, grabbing her stuff and running the opposite way to the locker room. Jake just watches, confused. Lauren was definitely acting weird towards him.

At a cafe; Cate is sitting down having lunch with her agent.

"You know, I'm actually really excited about this." She tells him. "I would have never left the show on my own, but this is good. I am ready to get people excited to be in the Cate Cassidy business."

"How about radio Seattle?" He suggests.

"Uh, Okay. So, how about we just start with the best option first."

"How about Radio Seattle is very very interested." He tells her.

"But I don't live in Seattle. What about Y109? I heard they had an opening."

"Okay. Everyone I've talked to loves you. They think you're great." Cate smiles, cheerfully. "The problem is you've always been Cate in Cate and Ryan. But I do have something for you; how would you like to produce the Cate and Ryan show?"

Cate looks at him, confused and strangely. "What?"

"Hear me out. It's local and it's a small step on getting you on the radio."

"I was already on the radio." She says, somberly.

"Okay, but there is a deal to start immediately at almost your full salary." He tells her.

Cate just stares at him. "No. Allen, you're my agent. I don't know what other jobs are out there, but you do. You need to find me one that's not producing a show that I was fired from for less money. That's a huge step back and I have my children to think about."

"Honey, think about it. You started in producing. You're going back to your roots. Is it ideal? Nooo. But when Ryan suggested it.."

"Wait. What!" She interrupts. "Ryan suggested it?"

"He didn't tell you..."

Cate rubs her face in frustration. She was hoping for a better job. Not working at the same one that fired her and now wants to hire her at a lower postition with less pay. She was lost for words until he phone started ringing. When she notices it's the girls' school she answers it quickly. "Hello?"

At school; Cate, Lux, and Baze are sitting in the Principal's office together as the Principal stands in front of them looking into a folder.

"Is everything okay?" Baze asks.

"Yeah, cause that's why parents get called into the Principal's offcie because everything is okay." Cate says, sarcastically. The principal sighs and stares at the two bickering. "Is this about the number of times she's been tarty? Because that is his fault."

"Or is it because of Lux being so moody because that is her fault." Baze points back to Cate.

"No. It's actually much serious than that." The principal tells them. "Your daughter is failing out of Westmonte." She shows them the folder or Lux's grades.

"What?" Cate asks, as she takes the folder. Lux just looks at both Baze and Cate, confused, and really not wanting to get into it. She had other things/people on her mind right now. "I don't get it. She is failing. Why haven't we heard about this before today? Someone from the school should have called or sent home a note."

"School policy is that any student that is failing has to have every exam signed by a parent." The principal tries to hand Cate the stack of exams but Baze takes it quickly from her hands.

"Uh, yeah. I didn't want to make a big deal about it. There was just a lot going on." Lux explains.

"Lux, failing?" Cate says, sternly. "It's a huge deal."

"It's not simply an issue of grades. It's that Lux's work has not shown improvement since she's arrived." The Principal tells them.

"What do we need to do?" Cate asks.

"Well, she needs to pass if she's going to stay at Westmonte." Lux starts laughing as Cate turns to her and gives her an unapproving look; she quickly stops. "Otherwise, there are other schools that operate at a slower speed."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Stop." Baze interrupts. "We're not going to ship Lux off to some short bus intermediate school."

"Exactly. Because if Baze can pass Westmonte then so can she." Cate tells her. Baze glares at Cate.

"Her lowest grade is in English. If Lux has a prayer of scrapping by with a C this semester; she needs to get an A on next Thursdays midterm."

"Consider it done!"

"Cate!" Lux exclaims.

"Lux, maybe I can speak with your parents for a moment." The Principal asks her. Lux stands up and walks out of the office. "These problems often boil down to motivation." She starts once Lux leaves. "When parents get involved in school they get motivated. You know besides the chaperoning of the Winter Formal; you haven't done much."

"Okay, but if you ever need me to throw together like a donkey basketbal tournament, then I'm your guy." Baze tells.

Cate jumps up. "He really is." She says, confidently.

"And Cate, she could make cookies for the bake sale."

Cate chuckles, nervously. "Or buy them."

"Actually, there is something we could really use. We need another speaker at career day tomorrow. You could talk about your success in your radio d.j., and you could tell how you started your own business. To show not only Lux, but Lauren as well, that you both have high expectations for them."

"Well, that's a bit of a problem right now because I'm sorta inbetween careers right now." Baze tells her. "And this one; she's the public speaker of the family, but she got can..."

"Cancer!" Cate interrupts quickly, making Baze look at her weirdly. "Cancer. I thought it was cancer, but it was just some 24 hour bug thing." The Principal looks at both of them strangely, while they both try to figure out what just happened themselves. "So, career day it is, huh?"

Baze and Cate walk out of the office while Lux is waiting for them.

"Career day!" Baze asks. "You couldn't jump on the bake sale?"

"Do you want me to go back in there and tell her that neither of us can speak because we are both unemployed losers?" Cate asks, quickly.

They pass Lauren up in the hallway and she looks at them surprised. "Mom; Dad, what are you doing here?" But they don't answer they just rush outside with Lux and Lauren following closely behind.

"Hey, I'm not the one that got fired!" Baze reminds her.

"No! You just burned down your own bar."

"Hey, guys!" Lux says, trying to stop them. "Sorry. I don't really want to interrupt the fighting.."

"We're not fighting. We're discussing." Cate tells her. She looks over at Lauren and finally notices her other daughter there. "Lauren, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Well, I kinda got distracted when my parents rushed through the halls like a couple insane people. What are you doing here?" She asks, confused.

"Your Principal wanted to talk to us about Lux." Baze tells her.

Lauren looks at Lux with no amusement. "What did you do now?"

"Apparently failing classes like you." Lux says, rolling her eyes.

Lauren starts smile. "Ha. You're a dumb dumb like me."

"No. Lux is not dumb! We are going to figure this out. We can't have this ruin your admissions to college."

This time Lux laughed. "Who said I wanted to go to college?"

Both Cate and Baze stop walking and look at her. "How else do you expect to have a career?" Cate asks.

"Well, you and Baze went to college and you don't even have a job." Lux says, stating the obvious.

"At the moment." Cate says. "I already have an entire career under my belt, and Baze...not a good example."

"Hey, I have an interview in twenty minutes. I got to go." He says, rushing off until Lauren stops him.

"Does anyone care that I made the team?" Lauren yells out.

They all stop and look at her. Baze runs over and sweeps Lauren off her feet; hugging her tightly. "Aw, kiddo, that's great! I knew you would! We'll celebrate tonight. I promise!" He says, putting Lauren down and running off to his car.

Cate hugs Lauren gently before bending down to Lauren's eye level. "I am so proud of you, honey." She kisses Lauren on the tip of her nose. "Now get to class." Lauren rolls her eyes and runs back towards the school entrance.

"Okay, Cate, career day really isn't a big deal." Lux tells her.

"Uh, yes. It is. We need to be involved. You let me and Baze handle that. You." Cate says; rubbing Lux's arm. "You just get ready to study for your exam. When we get home we are going to come up with a study plan and make learning fun. Anyone can get A's in high school if they try."

"Did Baze get A's?" Lux asks.

Cate stops and thinks before answering. "Well, sometimes he just left wrote the answers on his show, but that's not the point." Cate pulls Lux in front of her. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're my kid. You have got academic success in your blood, which is hopefully counteract with the dumbass you got from Baze." Cate says, simply as she gives Lux a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away. Lux watches as she walks and sighs out loudly. This was the least of her worries.

At his dad's office; Baze walks out of the elevator and over to the receptionist.

"I'm Nathaniel Bazile. Here to see Emma Bradshaw."

Emma walks up behind and takes a folder from the receptionist. "I'm Emma. You're late." She says, walking away. Baze watches her for a second before following. At her desk; she is looking through Baze's file as he sits patiently. "So, I see that you're making a rather significant career change. Why now?" She asks.

Baze smirks, nervously. "Well, you know I've been doing my own thing for awhile and I think it's time to branch out. Grow up. Move away from an industry that involves beer nights."

"What makes you think you could be a good fit at Fenmore Financial?"

"Same last name as the guy that runs the place." Baze jokes, but Emma was less amused. "But you know what though, I don't want you to take that into consideration because yes, my father got me into the door, but I want you to judge me based me off my application."

"So, you ran a bar?" Emma asks.

"Yes, I did. Until it was disposed of."

"Okay. Would I be correct that you're 32 and this will be your first real job?"

Baze smiles, embarrassed. "You know my dad owns this company, right?"

Emma nods, unimpressed.

At Cate's; Lauren is sitting on the loveseat eating cereal as she watches Cate prepare Lux for her exam.

"Okay. So, I prepared some flashcards for your midterm; broken down by plot, characters, scheme, and subtext." Cate explains, showing Lux her flashcards.

"That's like 100 cards." Lux tells her.

"No. Don't think of it as 100 cards. Think of it as tiny memorizable pieces."

Lauren starts chuckling, but stops when Cate looks at her. "What? I'm sorry I just find it funny that I was once sitting there in front of flashcards while you tried teaching me math, and now it's Lux's turn. I just find it funny."

"Do you miss it?" Cate asks, sternly. "Cause I still have those cards and we can work on you, too."

Lauren puts on straight face and looks down to her cereal. "No, thanks." She whispers.

Paige walks around grabbing all her things around the living room floor. "Doesn't you're mom feed you better? Why are you eating cereal?"

"Would you want to eat my mom's cooking?" Lauren asks her.

Paige stops and thinks about it for a second. "Yeah, you're right."

"Okay. I get that this is important and I'll try." Lux tells Cate. "But, Cate, I'm not like you. I'm not smart."

Cate looks at Lux, with sad eyes. "I've been trying to tell her that for thirteen years now. We must just get our brains from dad." Lauren says.

"No. That's just it. You're both smart. Hidden underneath all those hats and those scarves, and those layers; there is a ton of smartness." Cate says; looking back forth to Lux and Lauren. "And Lux, I'm going to find it."

"Maybe I just need a cute tutor like Lauren." Lux says, leaning back against the couch.

"Trust me. You don't." Lauren tells her. Suddenly the doorbell rings, pulling them out their conversation. Cate leans back and looks out the window.

"Oh, Lauren. It's Jake." She tells her.

Lauren jumps up and puts her bowl onto the table. "I'm in the shower!" She says, running upstairs.

"I'll get it." Lux says; walking over to the front door. "Hey, Jake."

"Oh, hey, Lux. Is Lauren home?" He asks.

Lux nods her head. "Yeah. But she's actually upstairs in the shower. You know all that sweat and stuff was still lingering on her from soccer tryouts." Lux lies.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, I was just coming to ask her why she missed our tutoring session. I waited forever for her, but she never showed." Jake explains.

Lux looks at him confused, as Cate walks up behind Lux after hearing what he just said. "She didn't go to tutoring?" She asks him.

Jake shakes his head. "No. It's like she's been trying to avoid me all day."

"Lauren!" Cate yells.

"I'm just going to go. Tell Lauren to give me a call if she's not dead."

Lux smiles. "Sure thing." She says, closing the door and following Cate upstairs.

In Lauren's room; Lauren jumps out her bathroom when she hears her mom calling for her. Cate and Lux walk into the room just as Lauren shuts the door.

"Is he gone?" She asks, quietly.

"Why did you miss tutoring today?" Cate asks, furiously.

Lauren sighs and goes to sit on her bed. "I was busy."

"Wrong answer. Jake said you had been avoiding him all day. Lauren, if soccer is going to distract you, then I'm going to have to make you quit." Cate says, jumping to conclusions.

"It's not!" Lauren yells. "It won't. I just have some stuff going on right now. I just didn't want to be around Jake today."

"You wanted Jake to stay your tutor so you'll have to make some sacrifices if you want to pass math and keep playing soccer, Lauren. What in the world could have you so distracted that makes you not want to see your boyfriend?" Cate asks, curiously. Lauren looks over at Cate then at Lux before shrugging. "Well, you better have it figured out before tomorrow because if you miss another tutoring session then you will be forced to sit in on me and Lux's." Cates says, storming out of Lauren's bedroom.

Lux waits until the all clear before turning to Lauren. "What happened today?" Lux asks.

Lauren rolls her eyes not really wanting to talk to Lux about her issues. She was still pretty upset with her. "I'm going shower." She says, walking passed Lux and into her bathroom.

Lux watches Lauren slam her door and sighs once she hears Cate calling her name from downstairs. She relunctingly walks out of the bedroom and downstairs to finish her tutoring with Cate.

The next morning; Math is in the loft eating a bowl of cereal when Baze comes out dressed in his underwear.

"Hey, save your cereal milk." Baze tells him as he walks over into the kitchen. "We're going to have to start cutting some corners around here."

"Why?" Math asks.

"Insurance. They just called." He says, walking to the fridge.

"They're not going to cover the fire?"

"No. Only for structual damage." Baze tells him, frustrated. "And everything else. The bar; the juke box, that's renter insurance. Which I, the renter, missed some parents on." Math shakes his head and takes another bite of his cereal. "Why are you scowling? You have a milk moustache."

"And why aren't you scowling? The insurance. The not getting a job at your dad's company."

"That was not my fault." Baze says as he sits down. "It was that Emma chick. She totally judged me just by my resume and looking at me. And you know what? I didn't want that job. I'm not a desk guy. Who wants to sit around in a stuffy suit talking about money all day?"

"This is just like in high school." Math says; shaking his head, amused. "You didn't even try."

"I tried getting this job, but she didn't even give me a chance!"

"Then make her give you a chance!" Math stresses to him. "You've built your bar from the wall up. You ran a small business for years. You majored in Economics in college. You need this job, and you need to stop telling yourself the game is lost before you even start." Math takes one last sip of his cereal milk before heading out the door, leaving Baze their to think about what he just said.

At school; Lauren closes her locker just as Jake walks up to her.

"You're coming to tutoring, right?" He asks, as he follows her down the hall.

Lauren rolls her eyes. This is the last thing she wanted to deal with right now. "Yes, Jake. I kinda have to or my mom is going to kill me and make me quit soccer." She tells him.

"Uh, yeah. I went to your house last night. I kinda let it slip that you didn't come yesterday. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Kinda figured that when she came busting in my room in hysterics. Thanks." She says, annoyed.

Jake grabs Lauren's arm to make her stop walking. "What is going on with you? Ever since the day before school started you've been avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you."

"I think you are." He tells her. "What is wrong with you?"

"Look, Jake. I may just be a little busy this semester with soccer and school. You can still tutor me if you want, or I can get math to find me someone else. But I think we just need a break from eachother for right now." She says as she looks up at Jake's sad and confused eyes; knowing that she caused it. But, she was right. She couldn't deal with someone who needed to be constantly attached to her all the time, who even tutored her, and someone who says he loves when she is thirteen and barely knows what love is. Without waiting for Jake to respond, Lauren gives him one last look before turning away and going to class. Jake stood there unsure of what just happened. He watches Lauren walk away, with no words, but now a broken heart.

At the gym; Baze starts working out where Emma is. Emma looks over at him and rolls her eyes. She couldn't believe Baze was actually following her now.

Baze looks over and says in a fake surprise voice. "What the heck, Emma? Nate Bazile. We met the other day." He tells her. Emma keeps running; trying her hardest to ignore him. "Who knew we worked out at the same gym?" He laughs. "It's crazy, huh? We've probably ran into eachother 100 times and never even noticed."

"It's an all women's gym." Emma tells him.

Baze looks around and notices all the women there, and no men, except for him. He laughs nervously. "I think you got the wrong impression of me."

"You're a woman?" She asks.

"Uh, no. I mean I never got the chance to tell you how I built my bar from the ground up, and that I am great with the public; working the business; working with client tell."

"Really?" Emma asks; looking at him curiously. "What kind of clients do you see yourself working with?"

"Many."

"Aaron Peters? Thornton Howard?"

"Yeah. Really great guys." Baze lies. "Solid. Love those guys."

"They're companies." Emma tells him.

"Well, first off they need to change their names to something more professional founding." Baze says.

"Ya know. I don't think I got the wrong impression of you at all." She says, getting off the treadmill. Baze stops and follows her. "I think you showed up to your job interview and your resume was a joke. Do you even want the job?"

"I think me showing up at an all women's gym speaks for itself." Baze tells her, quietly.

"I don't mean you want to pay your bills or get your bar back. I mean, do you want to put on a suit and tie; analyze financial reports, and sit in an office all day because that's what the job is. And as far as I can tell, you're just a guy that doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, so he drinks and parties, and is dumb enough to burn down his own bar." Baze tries to interrupt her but she keeps going. "Look, I don't know what you want, but I know what I want and it's not you." Baze watches Emma walk away from her. He couldn't even get a word in, so he stood there wondering what he could do next time to convince her.

At the house; Cate is on the floor mopping when Ryan knocks gently on the front door before walking in.

"Cate?" He shouts. But he didn't get a response so he walks in and sees her on her hands and knees. "I'm guessing you didn't get the job."

"What job, Ryan? The job you tried getting me on or the other jobs that don't want me to be a solo act." Cate says, annoyed.

"I was just trying to help, Cate."

"Well, if scoring me a demotion at the place that fired me is your way of helping. Don't."

"Do we really have to go to this dumb career day thing?" Lux yells, from upstairs.

"Yes!" Cate yells back. Ryan tries to walk to her. "Don't walk where I mopped!"

"Cate, I know it's hard out there, but you're going to find something great." The phone starts to ring.

"Got it!" Lux yells.

"And until then you have a job if you want it!" Ryan argues.

"What? The producer job?"

"Yes."

"That you asked them to get me? It's a pity job and you think that working for the job that fired me is the best that I can do." Cate says, dumping the water out in the sink before walking back to the floor she left wet.

"No! Of course not! It's just the job you started doing before we started working together. It is the only idea that I had to keep us working together!"

Cate stands up and throws the rag into the bucket. "We are not together, Ryan! We are not together anymore! Because you didn't fight for me then and you aren't fighting for me now!"

"I did fight for you!" Ryan yells back.

"Obviously not enough!"

Lux walks down the stairs slowly as she looks at them not only scared to walk in on their bickering, but sad because of what was happening. "That was Baze." She tells them. "He didn't get his job either. Looks like you're back to giving the career day speech."

"That's awesome." Cate says; walking passed Ryan. Ryan just watches her with sad eyes. Everything was his fault. He knew that.

At the school; Baze walks up to Cate who looks completely nervous.

"I cannot believe you are making me do this!" She tells him.

"Well, it has to be you, Cate. I'm not an inspirational speaker."

Math walks up to him. "Great. You made it. Which one of you is going on?" He asks. Baze points over to Cate, who was the least bit amused at his childish antics.

"I hate you." She says, walking away.

Eric walks by and nods his head towards Math. Math turns back around to Baze. "That's the guy I was showing around the apartment. He's Lux's teacher." Math says, looking at Lux who is sitting on the floor against the wall.

"Cool. You're going to introduce him?" Baze asks.

"No. He's actually not taking it."

"What?" Lux asks, with a bit of hurt in his voice. Lux stands up. "He's not?"

"Yeah. Sucks. We could really use another roommate that has a job."

"Pressure. Very helpful." Baze tells him, sarcastically.

"Um, I'm going to find out where Lauren is." Lux lies, walking away.

Up on stage one of the parents are talking about their business in the portal potty business. "And that's why the portal potty service is the number one business to be, and it's also the number two business." He jokes, badly.

Out in the hall; Lux is following Eric. "What's the deal, Mr. Daniels? You're not talking to me now?" She asks. "Yeah. Cause that's not childish."

"There's no point talking because you don't get it." He says.

"I do know you're not taking the loft because of me."

"Actually, I want to be closer to school." He tells her.

Lux laughs. "Right. Now you're a child and a liar. Got it."

Eric stops and turns around. "I'm a liar?" He shouts, furiously. "That's ironic. You were working in a bar! You sat there talking about a guy you were dating. We spent the whole night together. If I would have known you were sixteen..."

"..Nothing would have happened!" Lux, interrupts. "Eric, I am sorry. Maybe I lied because I liked you. And I didn't want you to think I was sixteen; like I was some screwed up kid!" Lux yells back.

"Lux, look, I'm sorry." He says, calmly. "I am not angry at you. I'm upset at the situation. This whole thing is my fault." A couple people pass by which makes Eric stop talking until the pass them. "Okay. Maybe we should go somewhere and talk." Lux walks passed him.

Down the hall; Lauren is watching the whole thing. She wasn't sure what Lux was possibly talking about when Eric was talking about working in a bar, but she did catch that Lux was out the whole night with him and she liked him. Lauren was just as confused as ever, and definitely needed to get to the bottom of this.

Out on the stage; Math walks up and takes the mic from the guy.

"Okay, people. Put your hands together for my very favorite radio host; Portland's own Cate Cassidy!"

Cate puts on a fake face and walks out to the stage. She takes the mic from Math and smiles happily towards the crowd. "Hi, I am Cate! From Cate and Ryan, and now I am just Cate. That's Cat with an E."

Suddenly Ryan runs on stage. "I'm sorry I'm late everybody." The crowd starts cheering and clapping.

"What are you doing here?" She whispers.

"Well, it's career day and you're talking about a career. So.." He takes the mic away from Cate. "So, anyone use to listen to us? K-100?" He asks. Everyone starts clapping and cheering once again. "Right on! Yeah! So, what you're probably thinking is how do you get a start in radio? Cate, why don't you tell them how this all began." He says, handing the mic back to Cate. "Back at our days on Z-Rock."

Cate chuckes. "I was a production assistant."

"Production assistant. Low end of the totem pole. I, on the other hand, was the host of the show. Ya see, Cate's main job was to bring the on air talent coffee and donuts. And how many times did you manage to bring me coffee and donuts?" He asks her. Cate looks at him, weirdly, but smiles. "Zero. So, eventually, we had to ask Cate, point blank, do you even want this job? The answer was.."

"Of course I didn't want the job." She says. "What I wanted, and what I always wanted was to be on the air. So, they put me on." She laughs. "One afternoon. In the booth. Banter with Ryan."

"Oh, and by the way, she bombed."

Everyone laughs. "Yes, and I realized that I had to watch and learn, and instead of being so focused on where I wanted to be I should be ready when I got there." She says, confidently. Baze and everyone are staring hard as they listen to Ryan and Cate. Lauren had never knew that about her mom, so she was very intrigued to find something new about her, but she only wished Lux was there to learn it with her. "So, the next time that I got the opportunity; I would be ready." Cate tosses the mic over to Ryan.

"So, a couple years later I'm at K-100 and I had the opportunity to pick a new co-host." He says, looking over at Cate. "And I remembered Cate. I remembered how she knew what she wanted, and how she wasn't afraid to fail and try again. And how she taken the time to step back and learn. So, I chose her." Cate looks at Ryan, lovingly. "That is why I wanted to work with her then, and that is why I still do." He says, putting his arm around Cate. Everyone starts clapping when they realize they are done.

Baze stops and looks around. "Hey, where's Lux?" He asks, Math.

"I don't know."

Baze runs over to Lauren. "Hey, where's your sister?" Lauren shrugs.

In the gym; Eric and Lux are in the bleachers talking.

"I should have told you the truth." She tells Eric. "About who I was. But we would have never gone to the ocean, and I would probably still be wallowing over a relationship that got screwed up. And I know that was just a billboard. Not really the ocean. And you were just a guy; who's been nice. And a guy that actually liked me. And maybe I just don't know the difference anymore between what's fake and what's real. And that's not your fault. It's mine. I'm just trying to be this person everyone is expecting me to be. I was suppose to be listening to career day, getting my grades up, and thinking about my future, but all I keep thinking about.." Lux pauses for a moment as she stares at Eric. "Do you know what I keep thinking about?" She asks. Eric sat there listening to every word Lux was saying. Not daring to interrupt. "That night. And you can say what you want, but to me, it's real."

Eric puts his hand onto Lux's and takes a deep breath. "Lux, it was real."

Lux smiles slightly. She couldn't believe Eric was feeling the same. That sat there for a moment stuck into eachother's gazes until the gym door slams and Baze walks through. Lux jumps and sees her dad standing there. "Lux!" He yells. "Hey, I been looking for you." He says, walking towards them. "You missed Cate's speech. Yeah, it got good towards the end, but, haaa, you gotta see the beginning." Baze pulls out his cell phone. "This thing is going on YouTube."

"Hey, I'm Eric." Eric says, lifting his hand up for Baze to shake.

"Mr. Daniels was just quizzing me for the test tomorrow." Lux lies. "Great Expectations."

"Oh. You're the guy that was gonna rent the room. What happened?" Baze asks.

"Oh, sorry, man. I wish I could. There's just certain circumtances that just aren't going to work out." Eric explains.

"That sucks. You're giving up a good thing."

"Yeah, I know." Lux looks at Eric. "But thanks for understanding about the place. It's nice to meet you." He says, shaking Baze's hand one more time before walking away.

Lux smiles at Baze before turning away. Baze noticed the awkward, but sad face Lux was holding. "Hey. You alright?" He asks. "You missed a good portal potty speech." Lux just crosses her arms and looks at her dad. Baze picks up a basketball. "Hey, are you this stressed about the test?"

"What if I fail?" Lux asks.

"Well, Cate and I are both unemployed, so, the one thing you don't have to fear in this family is failure. I mean, I think we both pretty much have that covered." He says, shooting the basketball to the goal and he makes it in.

"You didn't want that job anyway." Lux reminds him, grabbing the basketball and throwing it back to him.

"You know what the weird thing is? I kinda did. But I guess if I never even try then I couldn't fail."

"And I am trying, and failing. That's the problem."

"I get it. I do. And I will stay up late. I'll study with you, too. Whatever it takes." Baze throws the basketball up one more time; making it in. "It's kinda like what Cate said in her speech. You got this kiddo." He throws the ball over to Lux. "So, do I." He points to the goal making Lux laugh and she tries to throw the ball into the goal; missing it completely.

In the hallway; Cate is sitting down on a bench when Ryan walks over to her and sits down.

"Thanks for being here today." She tells him, sincerely.

"I wanted you to know that I have your back." He explains. "Cause I know it hasn't felt like it lately. Maybe I should have walked away, too, from the show, but I didn't. I didn't for a lot of reasons." Cate looks at Ryan. "Biggest one is you and those girls. I'm not there to help you anymore, I know this, but I could help you get another job. Having no job means less money, and I don't want that for you."

"Ryan, I'm sorry. Do you really think it's going to work? Me producing?" She asks him.

"We'd make it work. I just know that I am better with you than without you."

Cate smiles; slightly at Ryan. She couldn't believe what she was about to say; after everything, but it was true. "Me too."

Later that night; Lux is sitting at the kitchen table, in the loft, trying to study on her index cards, but she was getting frustrated. Lauren walks in and looks sadly at Lux.

"Can I talk to you?" Lauren asks. Lux looks up at Lauren, in surprise. She wasn't expecting Lauren to want to talk to her again, but she nods her head and Lauren sits down. "I broke up with Jake." She tells her.

Lux's eyes grew in surprise. "What?" She says, quietly. "What happened?"

Lauren shrugs. "He got too serious. Too clingy."

Lux glares at Lauren. "Really? You guys have been inseparable all during break. What could possibly have you annoyed with him?"

Lauren takes a deep breath. "He told me he loves me." She tells her.

Lux freezes. She was definitely not expecting that. "Wow. Really?"

"Yeah. I didn't exactly tell him why I was breaking up with him. I just told him I needed a break. That I was going to be busy with soccer and school."

"Lauren." Lux says, unapproving.

"I know. I was wrong. I just..I don't know."

"So, what are you going to do about tutoring?" Lux asks her.

"I don't know."

"You know Cate is going to kill you when she finds out that Jake isn't tutoring you anymore."

"Yeah, well, maybe she won't have to find out." Lauren stands up and starts walking towards her room before she turns back around to face Lux. "We all have secrets, Lux." She says, continuing to her room.

Lux looks at Lauren, confused. She was not about to put that puzzle together. So, Lux looks back at her paper, but grows frustrated with it and balls it up then tosses in the trash, but she misses. Lux gets up and walks towards the trash, picking up the paper, and putting it in, when she notices Math's bag on the kitchen chair. She looks around before picking it up and looking through it. She grabs her phone out of her back pocket and starts taking pictures of the exam.

At the gym; Baze walks up the stairs in a suit and over to Emma.

"I'm only going to take five minutes of your time." He tells her.

"Is this going to be an everyday thing?" Emma asks.

"Aaron Peters is a moderate diversive manufacturing company which produces, among other things, sporting equipment. They tend to be pretty conservative investers. So, we should probably be looking into undervalue companies for them to put their money into. Value investing. I wrote a paper about it in college." Baze explains.

"The clock is ticking on your five minutes." She tells him.

"OKay, look, my dad, he is an impressive guy, and when I was a little kid I wanted to be just like him. But somewhere along the way, I stopped trying because I knew, on some level, that I could never be just like him." Baze tells her. "So, I picked something so opposite of what he was. I never saw myself as a business guy because I was afraid that I couldn't cut it, and I don't want my kids to ever not try because of that. You know, I had a hard time admitting what I want. And I've lost things because of that. And I'm not about to let another I want slip away, and you shouldn't let me slip away. I may not have the right resume or creditials, but I'm a hard worker, I'm determined, and I'm fearless because believe me I have nothing to lose. So, you can hire me or not, that's your call, but you need to know that I want this job."

At Cate's; Baze knocks on the door and is surprise when Paige answers.

"Paige. I was wondering where you went off to. What are you doing here?" He asks. "I've been looking for you."

"Well, I've been waiting for you to call." She says, moving closer to him seductively.

"There is no more bar." He says.

"What? Since when?" She asks, in shock.

"Since you burned it down."

"Says who?"

Before Baze could answer; Cate was walking in from the back door. "Baze! What are you doing here?" She asks.

Baze walks in. "I got a surprise. Lauren; Lux!" He yells.

They both run downstairs together and stand in front of Baze. "Hey." Lux says.

"Alright, so, Math asked me to bring this over. It's Lux's English midterm." Everyone looks at eachother nervously. Baze slowly opens the paper that reveals and A. Cate streaks out in excitement and runs over to Lux enveloping her with a hug and kiss.

"OH MY GOSH!" She yells. "We need champagne!" Cate pulls Lux towards the kitchen. "Ryan!" Lauren hugs her dad from the side as he bends down planting a kiss on her cheek, making her laugh. They both follow the rest into the kitchen. "Can you believe you got a 95! A 95!"

"Yeah. I don't think we need to do all this.." Lux tells them.

"Sure we do. You got an A." Ryan says, popping the champagne bottle. "Plus Cate's new job."

"And you guys are looking at a new sales associate." Baze tells them.

"You got the job!" Lux asks, happily.

"No way!" Lauren says, tacking her father with a hug and pulls Lux in with it. He sits Lauren down on the kitchen counter as Ryan hands them all glasses.

"Crazy, huh?" Baze says. "Okay. To all of us doing something we thought we couldn't!"

"Oh, and to Lux, doing what we all knew she could." Cate says, putting her arm around Lux. Lauren clears her throat, loudly, on purpose. They all turn towards her and laugh. "And to Lauren for making the soccer team and doing fantastic in this semester in her classes!"

They all clink their glasses, but Lux and Lauren share the same look of concern and nervousness. They knew better than to celebrate something they shouldn't be celebrating, especially since they were the ones destroying it along with creating it at the same time.

Everyone has their secrets.


	24. The Show Goes On

A couple days passed by and everyone was getting ready for their big day. Cate was heading back to work as producer and Baze was starting his new job at the office. He was very excited and couldn't wait to get started. He even surprised Math when he walked out of his bedroom, fully dressed in his suit and tie, and into the kitchen.

"Wow. I don't think I've seen you up this early." Math tells him.

Baze smiles. "It's a big day, Matthew."

"Matthew?" Math says, confused, as to why Baze was saying his full name.

"Yeah, you know, first day on the real job. Just practicing sounding professional." He says, taking out milk and cereal.

"And today's my first day coaching girls jv basketball. How am I suppose to sound?" Math asks, walking towards him.

"Dude, you should sound pumped. We're both heading into exciting new territory here. And while I'm learning finance, you will be teaching Lux how to dribble."

Math sighs. "I told you, there is no way you can get her to play. Lux can't even play basketball on the wii."

"Well, maybe Lux hasn't had the experience to make her love it yet. Now, this is going to be great." Baze puts on his suit jacket. "For both of us. Think positive, Matthew." He says, walking passed Math to the door.

At Cate's; in the kitchen, Lauren is sitting at the bar counter eating breakfast when Cate walks in.

"OOh, cute." Lauren says, impressed with her mom's attire.

Cate takes a quick spin. "Thanks. I am the producer now, so I'm trying to look producery. Even if I didn't want the job." She says; grabbing an empty milk carton out the fridge. "Okay, seriously? Who does this?"

"Well, you know it's not me or Lux. Soo, it could be the other person you let live in this house." Lauren says, looking over in the living room where Paige is sleeping on the couch. Cate rolls her eyes and slams the refridgerator door. "Ryan's sister. Living here. Kinda weird, Mom. You guys aren't even together anymore. What's up with him always coming over and his sister staying with you?"

"Why is there nothing to eat in here!" Cate asks, annoyed.

Lauren shakes her head. "Don't change the subject."

"I don't know, Lauren. Things are finally good again. Ryan and I are..." Cate wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.

"Are what? Together again?" Lauren takes her plate and put it in the sink. "You really need to make up your mind, Mom."

"I'll talk to Ryan about..that" Cate says, pointing into Paige's direction.

Upstairs in Lux's room; Lux is trying her hardest to read the english assignment, but she couldn't understand any of it or get into it. She slams the book shut and sighs in frustration. She hears a car honk from outside and quickly checks her phone. Lux was so focused on learning this book that she completely lost track of time and forgot to get dressed.

Downstairs; Baze walks into the living room, with a basketball in hand, and goes over to Paige. He bends down and starts shaking her.

"Paige." He whispers. When he didn't get a response he grabs her head with his hand and starts shaking her. Paige looks up, tiredly. "Hey."

"Hey." She says; grabbing his hand. "What are you doing?"

Baze pulls his hand away. "I'm taking Lux and Lauren to school. We need to talk. I heard fromy my dad's insurance company and they said they will take care of the structual damage of the bar."

"Oh. Sweet."

"No. It's not sweet. Because everything else I lost in the fire, that comes out to 20,000 dollars we have to pay for." He tells her.

"Oh, god. That sucks. Good luck with that."

"The we that I'm talking about it us, Paige." Baze explains. "You and me."

Paige looks at him confused. "I'm not following."

"You burned down my bar. I think it's fair you pay for half."

"10,000 dollars!" Paige exclaims, quietly.

"I can't pay for it myself. I put all my savings into it and I can't seem to rent out Jamie's room because no one wants to live in a giant ashtray!"

"Okay, so what do you want me to do?" Paige asks. "You want me to ask Ryan for it?"

"No! God, no. Don't ask Ryan for it. He would ask what you were doing in my bar. Look I got a job." Baze says, thinking. "I am working for my half. All I'm asking is for you to take responsibility for yours. You don't even to pay me at once. Pay me installments. 500 bucks a month or something, but you got to start paying me soon."

"Dad!" Lauren yells out. Baze jumps from his spot in front of Paige and walks out to the foyer, holding the basketball.

Lauren and Lux run downstairs. "Hey, you're early." Lux tells him.

"Hey, good morning, ladies." Baze says. "I got you a surprise, Lux." He takes the basketball out from behind his back. "Think fast." He says, throwing the basketball to Lux but she puts her hands out and slaps it away, looking scared. Lauren starts laughing.

At the school gym; Baze is tossing the basketball in the goal while Lux watches.

"You want me to play basketball?" Lux asks, confused.

"Well, I want you to at least try." He tells her.

"Why?"

"Because there's more to school than grades. That's why." Baze hands Lux the basketball.

"Tell that to Cate."

"Cate. Cate spent all of high school in a library, studying and getting hit with spit balls. While I, on the other hand, played sports and arguably learned more than Cate did. I mean not about adverbs and parallelagrams, or whatever, but I learned about teamwork; about discipline, setting goals, and you know what else? I walked the halls spit ball free, another perk no more stressing about grades because teachers always let athletes slide a little bit." He says, tossing the ball up into the goal. "Come on. It gives us a chance to spend more time together." He throws the ball over to Lux who catches in surprise.

Lux chuckles. "I'm gonna suck."

"Hey, you thought you were gonna suck on the English mid-term, right? But you studied and you an A." Lux looks down, guilty. "I'm just asking you to give this a shot, too."

In the library, Lauren is sitting at her and Jake's usual table. She wasn't sure if Jake was still going to tutor her or not, but she went anyway just to find out and try to do some studying by herself. But that wasn't working out too well. Lauren drops her head down onto the table and sighs. This was going to be a long semester she thought. Jake wasn't coming so she knew that she was now screwed when it came to math. Maybe she had no choice and had to get her mom to tutor her. Wow. That would suck. But she couldn't quit soccer. That just wasn't happening, she kept telling herself. Then some guy walks up to her.

"Are you Lauren Bazile?" He asks.

"Yeah.." Lauren says, kinda throwed off.

"Jake told me to give you this." He says, handing her a piece of paper. Lauren takes it and the guy walks away. She looks around the library wondering if this was some kind of joke and if Jake was probably just standing there watching her, but he wasn't. Lauren slowly opens the piece of paper and starting reading it. 'Lauren, I'm not really sure what happened with us. I'm a little confused. But I'm going to give you your space like you asked. I know you said that I could still tutor you, but I don't think that would be a good idea. Good luck. I still love you. Jake.' Lauren closes her eyes, and crumbles the paper up. She wasn't sure if what she did was good or bad, but it was already done. Lauren packs up her things and walks out of the library.

At Baze's new job, he walks in looking around.

"Hi, I'm Nate Bazile. Do you know where I should go?" He asks, a random women. She points to across the room. "Okay." He says, walking towards his new clean desk. He starts unpacking his bag and puts picture frames of himself and girls on the desk.

Emma walks out of her office looking stressed. "You're late." She tells him.

"Um. I thought that the markets open at 9:30." He says, standing up.

"Eastcoast time." Emma corrects him. "I would like to remind you that you are no longer working in a bar anymore. Our investors of high profile people, with high pressure careers with zero tolerance for frat boys that show up to work two hours later."

"I'm really sorry." Baze says, sincerely. "I have to drop my kids off at school in the morning."

"Oh. The illigitimate ones." She says. Baze looks at her, baffled. "Let me break it down for you, Nate. In this business perception is everything. Clients don't want to hear excuses or your personal problems. If they don't think you have your own life undercontrol; how the hell are they suppose to think you have theirs. So, any disaster that is your life, they don't want to hear about it. And neither do I."

"Okay." He says, kinda scared, as Emma walks away.

At school; Lauren slams her locker shut when Lux walks up to her.

"So, how was tutoring?" Lux asks her.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "He didn't show up, so I guess that means we're definitely done."

"I thought you were definitely done before?" Lux asks.

"We were. We are. I told him we could still keep tutoring and he didn't show it. So, I'm assuming we're officially done. Whatever. I don't have time for it anyway." Lauren says, but then notices Lux holding a basketball. "Why are you still holding that thing?" She asks, amused.

Lux rolls her eyes. "I'm trying to learn to dribble. Baze wants me to try out for jv team. I came to ask you to help me figure out this thing."

Lauren laughs. "Lux, I play soccer, not basketball. I have no idea what to do with that. I mean, I do, but I'm not good at it. Dad's the basketball and I'm the soccer player. Basketball you play with hands; soccer you play with feet. Totally different sports." She explains.

"This sucks." Lux says, walking away.

Back Baze's work; Baze walks into Emma's office just as she is getting off the phone.

"Bastards!" She yells, slamming the phone done. Baze stands back. "Not you. That was a 'friend' of mine. He promised me two of his football players to participate in a charity golf tournament tomorrow and they just pulled out. I'm applying with a potential client and we need two people to fill their spots."

Baze shrugs. "I may knew a couple guys that can step in."

"I need actual celebraties. Not some friend of your that once won a taco eating contest."

"What about Andre Miller and Marcus Kimby?" Baze asks. Emma looks at him like she has no idea who that is. "Portland Trailblazers."

"You know them?" Emma asks, unbelieving.

"I know them." Baze tells her. "They use to come to the bar all the time. Plus we got drunk together and went up on the roof and starts shooting off beer cans." Baze laughs, thinking about the memory but stops once he sees Emma unamused face. "I could try to get a hold of them."

"Don't just try. Get it done." She tells him, sternly.

In the gym; Lux is practing with the team as they do lay-ups. She is doing horribly, but it also trying her hardest.

Math blows his whistle. "Alright. Good effort. Love the hussle." He tells the girls. "Lets take five."

Jones and Lux see eachother and walk over to eachother awkwardly. Since their break-up they hadn't really seen much of eachother. "Jones." Lux says.

"Hey. You're playing basketball?" He asks.

"Any advice? Or words of encouragement?" She asks, hopefully.

Jones looks down and smiles. "Nice socks."

Lux laughs. "I told Baze this is a bad idea."

"The socks?"

"Basketball. What is this like a parent thing? The whole follow in their footsteps; turn you into them, because after I humiliate myself here I get to go home and study for a test that I am going to fail." Lux vents out.

"Or you could blow it off and we could go grab food. Just be as friends. I promise." He says, quickly. "A group thing."

"But we just broke up, Jones. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"That break-up? No. Pizza? Yes. And anyway you'd study better. Pizza is like spinach for your brain." He jokes.

Lux laughs. "Maybe next time." Jones sighs, but doesn't argue. Instead he walks away. While getting water, Lux overhears a couple guys talking about pizza and the test. She was hearing that they had bluebook with the answers. She turns around and walks over to Jones. "Hey." She says. "I changed my mind. I'm in for pizza tonight. I could use all the spinach I could get." She jokes.

"Awesome." Jones smiles, walking away.

Lux was unsure if she was doing the right thing, but she knew this was her only way to pass her test.

At the studio; Cate is in the breakroom eating when Ryan walks in to get some coffee.

"So, are you regretting taking the job yet?" Ryan asks.

Cate sits down. "Almost. If I have to hear Miss. Virgin talk about marriage one more time I may have to quit." She tells him.

Ryan laughs. "Well, I think you're doing great."

"Thanks, Ryan. But we need to talk. About Paige." Ryan sits down in front of her.

"What about Paige?"

"Well, I'm kinda wondering why she is still around. I mean you have a house. Why isn't she living with you? She's eating all my food." Cate says.

"I'll talk to her."

"Please do. My couch is becoming uncomfortable and my kids are starting to starve." Cate exaggerates.

Later at Baze's work; Baze making phone calls for the golf tournament.

"Yes. I understand that you have a lot of request to appear at events, but my job kinda depends on this." Baze explains. "So, if you could just give him a message; he'd remember me. He hung out at my bar, and we, uh, we threw beers from the roof together." He laughs. "Hello?" Baze hangs up the phone, annoyed. He takes a deep breath before look at a picture of Cate and the girls on his desk. "Huh." He picks up his cell phone and starts dialing the familiar number.

"Hello?" Cate answers.

"Hi, Cate. I need a favor."

"Well, I can't help you." Cate says, in her kitchen as she takes out a few plates.

"Okay. Look you don't even know what I'm about to ask you so just listen. I'm trying to make up for a kinda rocky start at my new job. My dad's firm is having a charity golf tournament tomorrow and a couple celebrities bailed out at the last minute." He explains.

"Soo, you want to know if Ryan and I are available?" Cate asks.

Baze closes his eyes at what he was about to say. "Actually, I was wondering if Ryan and Kelly would be available."

Cate stops what she is doing. "So, what? Kelly is a celebrity now?"

"Okay. I'm sorry, Cate. But I am desperate. A bunch of big leaguers are gonna be there. Local celebrities are going to be playing with important potential investors from the firm. Lots of press."

"Well, after today the show could use that. I could use that." Cate says; thinking about it. "Yeah. Why not?"

"Really?" Baze asks in shock.

Cate smiles. "Yeah. I'm a producer now. This is me producing."

"Yeah. I like this." Baze says, stopping himself from jumping up and down. "I like this. You and me. Getting along thing."

"Ah, yeah. Me too. Don't screw it up." Cate says, hanging up. She turns around when Lux is walking downstairs. "Hey, there. Uh, dinner is going to be here in a bit. I hope you're good with Chinese."

"I forgot to tell you but I'm going to be meeting some friends for pizza." Lux says, walking towards the front door with Cate trailing behind.

"Well, do you need any money?"

"I'm good."

"And Lux, what about your test? Did you finish studying?"

Lux grabs her jacket and puts on a fake smile. "It's all undercontrol. No worries."

"I just have to say the way that you have rebounded at school; I'm really proud of you." Cate says, walking closer to Lux.

"Thanks." Lux says, a bit uneasy.

The doorbell rings bringing them out of their thoughts. "Okay. Well, will you just be home by nine?" Cate asks.

"Yeah." Lux says, walking out the door, passing the delivery guy.

"Hi. Just let me get my cash." Cate says, walking to her purse. When she opens her wallet she sees that it's empty. Cate stares at it in disbelief.

At the pizza place, Jones and Lux are sitting at their own table.

"So, I haven't seen you around since Christmas break." Jones tells her.

Lux rolls her eyes. "Jones, were you expecting to? We broke up."

"No. You broke up with me."

Lux smiles, nervously. "I've been busy." She tells him.

"Well, I'm glad you weren't busy to come hang out with me. I actually wanted to talk to you about what happened."

"Jones, really? You know what happened."

Jones was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Hey, do you want some more soda?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure." Lux says. Jones grabs their cups and walks away. Lux looks over to the other side of the room and notices the two boys that she overheard talking in the gym about the test. She grabs her bag and walks over to them. They all get quiet once she approaches. "Hi. I want in on whatever your version of studying is." She says, leaning against the table.

"We don't know what you're talking about." One of the boys tell her.

Lux smiles. "Really? Because I overheard you today. It sounded like a bad episode of Save By the Bell. Which is redundant." She tells them. Lux takes money of her pocket. "So, let me put it this way, Screech." She puts the money down on the table. "Let me in on this, or I'm telling Mr. Rogers that you're cheating."

At Cate's; Cate, Ryan, and Lauren are sitting around the table eating Chinese.

"She stole it." Cate says.

"You don't know that." Ryan tells her.

Lauren watches them as she sits quietly eating her food. "Yes, I do, Ryan. Paige stole it. Three hundred dollars cash doesn't just disappear out of my wallet."

"Alright. Can we just retrace your steps." Ryan asks, annoyed.

"Yes. All steps lead back to Paige." Ryan laughs. "I mean how do you not see that?" Cate asks.

"She's not the only one who lives in this house." Ryan tells her. Cate looks at Lauren then back at Ryan.

"You're blaming me and Lux?" Lauren asks.

"Lauren, go eat up in your room."

"Look, Ryan. No one invited you back into our lives. No one even wants you here especially if you really think me or Lux would steal from Mom!" Lauren says, in defense. She couldn't believe Ryan was actually blaming them for stealing money.

"Lauren.." Cate says, trying to stop her.

"No, Mom. You don't even belong here, and neither does your sister." Lauren spats out before taking her plate and going upstairs.

Ryan just sat there not believing Lauren just went off on him like that. She was the last person he'd expect to do that. "Okay. Are you really trying to imply that my daughters stole from me?" Cate asks, as she tries to keep herself undercontrol. "Because that seems pretty ridiculous. If you do not ask Paige, I will."

"And I wasn't blaming Lauren." Ryan finally says.

Paige walks in after hearing Cate. "Ask me what? Oh, Chinese!" Paige says, sitting in Lauren's spot and taking bites out of each box.

"Alright. Look, Cate's missing some money from her wallet." Ryan tells Paige.

"Oh, bummer." Paige says. "Can I have the last dumpling?"

Cate looks over at Ryan, then back at Paige when she figured Ryan wasn't going to go on with the conversation. "Any idea what happened to it?" She asks.

Paige shrugs. "Nope." Paige walks away leaving them alone again.

Ryan look at Cate and gives her a small smile. "What? Your entire line of questioning is going to end at 'bummer' and 'no?'

"Look, I know my sister. She didn't take the money. Now I asked her. It's your turn."

"To what? Cross-examine her?" Cate asks.

"Not Paige. Fair is fair. You gotta ask Lux."

Cate stares off not believing this. She was going to have to ask her daughter if she stole money from her.

Still at work, Baze tries calling Lux but she doesn answer except for her voicemail.

"Hey, kiddo. I was just calling to see how your first practice went. I thought I'd be there, but I'm still at work. I'll call you later. Bye." Baze hangs up when Emma walks out.

"We're set for the Trailblazers, right?" Emma asks him.

"Uh, actually, it turns out they had other trails to blaze, but you'll be golfing with Kelly and Ryan. The host of K-100's Morning Madness." Baze tells her.

Before Emma could respond she had some clients calling for her. She glares at Baze before walking away.

Back at the house; Lux walks in just as Cate approaches her.

"Hey, Lux. Can we talk to you?" Cate asks, as Ryan stands up.

Lauren comes down the stairs quietly and sits down at the bottom listening. "I was just going to go study." Lux tells her.

"We, uh.." Cate was having a hard getting it out. She really did not want to be asking Lux this. "300 dollars is missing from my wallet."

"Oh. I haven't seen it." Lux tells her.

"That's not what we're asking." Ryan tells her.

"Ryan." Cate says, stopping him. "Okay, Lux did you take it?"

Lux looks at Cate confused and hurt. "You think I stole your money?" She asks.

"No. I just had to ask."

"You had to?" Lux asks, angry. "Because I have been doing everything you have asked me to do. I've been working my butt off at school. I been getting my grades up. I even joined the basketball team to keep Baze happy and you still think I'm this messed up kid, who would steal then lie about it. That's awesome." Lux tries to walk away but Cate stops her.

"Look, Lux, I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Lux says, walking passed Cate and Ryan and over to the stairs passed Lauren. They exchange looks before Lux heads upstairs.

Lauren stands up and looks at Ryan. "Just go away." She says, as she follows Lux.

Cate turns around and looks at Ryan. She was so pissed off at him right now she had nothing to say.

The next day at the golf tournament, Baze is acting like a caddy and is setting up all the golf carts and gold clubs. Everyone, including Cate are practicing their hits. Kelly walks up and grabs a club and a ball. Ryan walks passed her and over to Cate.

"Hey, Cate. Thanks for waiting for me. Paige had to drop me off." He tells her.

"You let Paige take your car. I hope your insurance covers theft." She says, sarcastically.

"Good to know we're talking again."

"Till you realize you have a major blindspot when it comes to your sister; we're not." Cate tells him, swinging the club again.

Meanwhile, Baze is wiping down the golf clubs when Paige walks up to him. "What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Oh, I don't know. I thought we could do it on the putting green." She says, flirting. "Kidding. Here." She pulls out some money out her pocket.

Baze grabs it. "What is this?"

"This is 300 bucks." Baze looks around as he puts the money in his pocket. "So, now I'd appreciate it if you lay off until I get a job."

"Okay. You gotta go." Baze says, pushing Paige away.

"What?"

"You gotta go!"

"You were a lot nice when you were wasted." Paige says, walking away.

Emma walks up to him and looks behind Baze before staring at him. "What did some girl, dressed like a hooker, just give you a wald of cash?" She asks. "Did that actually just happen?"

"No. Absolutely not." Baze lies. "There's nothing to worry about." He says just as a scream from Kelly come from behind them. "That's probably nothing. I'm going to go check on that." Baze walks away to where Ryan and Cate are standing over Kelly who is laying on the ground. Emma follows him anyway. "What happened?" Baze asks Cate.

"She hit me in the head with a golf ball!" Kelly yells at Cate.

Cate bends down desperately. "Accidently!" She yells back.

"Yeah. You have a pretty good knot there." Ryan tells her.

"Hey, you want me to help you with some ice." Cate says as she tries to help Kelly up but Kelly pulls away.

Cate backs up, quickly. "I want you to get me a restraining order. From you!" Kelly says, as Ryan walks her away.

Baze jumps in front of Cate. "What are you doing? My job depends on this!"

"I just mained the host of my own show. My job is teetering for caracy and secure as well!" Cate says, desperately.

"Kelly just got hit with a golf ball! She just dropped out of the tournament." Emma tells Baze when she walks up to them.

"Weird." Baze says looking at Cate in a disappointment.

Emma looked very displeasing at Baze. "I can't lose this client. Where am I suppose to find another celebrity in 60 seconds?" She asks.

Baze looks at Cate. Cate turns towards Emma. "I just wanna say that I was a celebrity up until a week ago."

"That's true. That's totally true." Baze says. "You could fill in. Take her spot."

"There goes keeping your personal life away from the client." Emma says. "Not a word about how you two know eachother." Emma warns them.

At school; Lux is in class taking her test just as Math stops them.

"Alright. Pencils down. Pass your blue books up to the front." He tells them.

Lux picks up her bag and slowly switches out the blue books before passing the one of them towards the front. Jones looks over to her and smiles. "So, how'd you think you do?" He asks.

Lux smiles. "Pretty well I think."

"See. I told you the pizza would help."

Lux laughs as the bell rings, but Math stops them before they could leave. "Hold up. A few of the teachers have been having suspicions of cheating, so I've marked the test. And from what I'm not seeing mark on some of these." He asks, annoyed as he starts to look through the test.

Lux quickly straightens up knowing she was about to get caught. "I told you, you idiots." Jones says, looking over at the guys that helped Lux.

"Shut up, dude."

"The following people please stay behind." Math says. "Chris Davies, Mike Bennett, Max Jacobs.." Lux and Math share a look before he says her name. "And Lux Cassidy. Everyone else is dismissed."

Jones looks at Lux in confusion. "Wait. Is that why you decided to come last night?" He asks. "To get in on their cheating league?" Lux knew she had no words to help this situation, and Jones wasn't waiting for them either. He grabs his things and walks out the classroom.

At the golf tournament, Ryan and Cate have started bickering about last night. Cate still couldn't believe Ryan thought it was Lux, still thought it was Lux, who stole the money.

"Ya know. Lauren's right. What is happening here? With us." Cate asks.

"What?" Ryan says, confused. "What do you mean what's happening here? We're finally getting back on track."

"No. Looks like we're going right off them. Again."

Baze walks up to them. "Hey, can you guys hit pause on this episode of Jerry Springer? You're distracting the client."

"Sure." Ryan says, sarcastically. "Anything for Cate's side of the family."

"Your sister is a grown woman that stole money and lied to my face, and to yours!" Cate argues.

"You don't know if Paige stole it, okay! It could have been Lux!"

Baze stops walking as soon as he hears Lux's name and turns back around. "Okay, what about Lux? What are we talking about here?"

"There's 300 dollars missing from Cate's purse." Ryan tells him.

"Yeah, and he would rather accuse our kids than his sister."

"Lux is not a theif!" Baze says in her defense. "By the way, Ryan, Paige just gave me 300 bucks, so, can you be quiet!" Baze walks away leaving Ryan opened mouth and shock.

"What? Why is Paige giving you money?" Ryan asks.

Baze rolls his eyes and stops before explaining. "Paige is paying me money because she burned down my bar."

"What!"

"Wait. I thought a ciggarette did?" Cate asks, disconcerted.

"It's Paige's ciggarette." Baze tells them.

"At seven in the morning?" Cate asks, dazed. But then it finally hits her and Ryan both and she shuts up.

"No. No. No" Ryan says, not wanting to believe it. "You sleep with Cate, you interrupt our wedding, but do not tell me you slept with my sister." Ryan says, walking over to Baze with a golf club in hand. Cate quickly steps in front of him.

"Of course he slept with your sister! He slept with my sister. He sleeps with everyone's sisters!" Cate says, stating the obvious.

"I didn't know that she was going to burn down my building!" Baze yells out. "Steal money from Cate and frame my kid! All I am trying to do right now is my job. So, don't you make me out to be the bad guy, Ryan! Not now!"

Emma and the client walk up behind them and clear their throats. Baze turns around. "If you guys don't mind I'm going to make this my last hole." The client tells them. Emma looks over at Baze, pissed off, as the three of them just stare at them in alarmed.

Later; Paige pulls up into the tournament as Ryan is standing there waiting for her.

"So, how was the most boring sport ever invented?" She asks, as Ryan walks up to her.

"Get out." He says, furiously.

Paige gets out and looks at Ryan confused. "Okay."

"No. Not just out of the car out of Cate's house. I know you stole the money and I know you slept with Baze, and I know you burned down his bar."

Paige looks at Ryan, sadly. "Where am I suppose to go?" She asks.

"I'll drop you off on the way to station. I want you packed and out of the house as soon as we get back." He tells as he walks away.

At the club's bar; Baze walks up to the client.

"Mr. Jackson, I'm sorry to bother you. I wanted to apologize. I hope you won't let what I said or who I am affect your decision to invest your money with the firm. I'm not the guy that's going to be managing your money. That's Emma. And that's who you want. She will eat, sleep, and breathe your portfolios and rest easy. Me? I got the job two days ago. My dad helped me get my foot in the door." Mr Jackson just listens to Baze as he takes a sip of his drink. "And I took the job to prove something to him, and to my kids, and to myself. And I have a lot to learn. You know, as badly as I want it; I'm not the type of guy who can hide who I am to impress someone. Even if who I am makes me look bad to someone like you. So, what do you think?" Baze asks.

At Cate's; Cate walks in as Paige is packing her things.

"Don't worry. I'm not robbing you. I'm packing." Paige tells her. "I'm sorry I stole your money." She laughs as she continues to pack. "I guess you got what you wanted."

"No. This isn't what I wanted." Cate tells her.

"Yeah, right. You have hated me since I showed up."

"I never hated you, Paige. I just think Ryan has given you way too many chance, that's all." Cate explains.

"How many chances has he given you?" Paige asks. Cate felt like she had just been stabbed, knowing Paige was right. "After all the crap you pulled with Baze. Thanks for the hospitality." Paige says walking passed Cate and out the door.

At school; Lauren is walking down the hall when she sees Jake at her locker. She stands firmly and walks over to him, confidently.

"So, what? You're ignoring me now? You're really not going to tutor me anymore?" She asks.

"You said you needed you space." Jake tells her, calmly, not looking at her.

Lauren rolls her eyes. "I told you, you could still tutor me, but instead you send some strange guy up to me to give me a letter. Really, Jake?"

"I'm moving." He says, simply.

"What?" Lauren asks, not exactly sure if she heard him correctly.

Jake closes his locker and looks at Lauren. "I'm moving. My dad got a new job. So, I guess you'll get your space." He says, walking away.

Lauren watches Jake in discontent. He was moving? She couldn't believe it. She couldn't what she had done. Lauren wasn't sure how she was feeling. She leans back on the locker and slumps down to the floor looking straight ahead in a daze. He's moving.

In Math's classroom; Cate, Baze, and Lux are sitting in the desk.

"This is Lux's test." Math hands Cate over the test.

"I cannot believe this." Cate says. "I mean cheating doesn't even make any sense. You've been doing so well."

Lux smiles sarcastically. "Not really."

"Well, what about the midterm last week?" Cate asks.

Lux looks at Cate, nervously. "I stole the answers from Math's man purse."

"It's a satchel." Math corrects her. Baze glares at Math. "But that's not the point."

"Here I am feeling guilty for accusing you of stealing and lying and telling Ryan that he is wrong about you and that is exactly what you are doing!"

"Cate." Baze says, stopping her. "Ease up. Not everyone is a valedictorian. And maybe Lux wouldn't have felt like she had to this if you weren't riding her so hard to get good grades."

"Yeah, or if you wouldn't have forced her to sign up for basketball when she was already struggling!"

"I want her to know that there is more to life than getting A's!" Baze argues back.

Lux sighs, really not wanting to be there and listening to this. "Yeah there is always a prize in joining the team and joining the jocks in the cheating ring!"

"Alright, stop!" Lux yells as she jumps up. "Look, this is how it is. I never had parents to help me with my homework. I never gone to a school on where they've actually given a crap on how I did. I never had a hobby. I have never played a sport. I've never taken piano lessons." Lux laughs. "Parent teacher conferences. I was always minus the parent. But what you're doing, thinking that you can just sign me up, or make me some flash cards and I'll be you. I'm trying but it's not working." Cate sighs her head. "So, if you want a daughter that's you, then I'm sorry. I think you got the wrong kid." Lux turns away and walks out of the classroom leaving Cate and Baze to feel guilty.

At the bar; Lux is sitting down in the construction when Math walks down from the loft.

"New thinking spot?" Math asks.

Lux looks at him, nervously. "So, how bad is it? Am I suspended?" She asks.

"I got it knocked down to detention." He tells her. "But there's something else." Lux looks at him confused. "They're working with the school to get you a tutor."

Lux laughs. "No. I don't need a tutor. I'm not Lauren. Look I'm sorry that I lied to you. I'm sorry I cheated, I just, I need them to stop pressuring me to be them." Lux stresses.

Math shakes his head. "That's crap, Lux. Yes, they want you to be like them. What parent doesn't?" He asks. "That's not why you're upset. I think you're upset because you're not who you want to be. Deep down you want to be like them, too."

Lux stood there as Math walked away. Maybe he was right. Maybe she did want to be her parents, but she isn't. She wouldn't be. Ever.

Up in the loft; Baze is sitting drinking a beer when there's a knock on his door. He turns to see that it's Paige and motions for her to come in.

"Hey." She says, walking in.

"Hey."

"Sure it's cool I called?" Paige asks, worried.

"Well, we need a roommate and you need a room." He tells her. Paige follows Baze to the room. "But I will tell you this. If you burn down this loft. I will kill you." He promises. Paige laughs as she walks into the room.

"Baze." Baze turns around to find Lux standing there.

"Lux, hey." He says, putting down his beer and walking over to her. "What are you doing?"

Lux lifts the basketball up in the air. "I, uh, I want you to teach me. How to do this. All of this."

Baze shakes his head. "You don't have to do this for me."

Lux smiles. "I want to do this for me, too."

At Baze's work; Emma walks up to Baze.

"Jackson called." Emma tells him.

"For what? To get me fired?" Baze asks.

"No. That he would love to sign at Finmore Financial. And he seems to think that we make a great team. He says that your honesty is refreashing, and that he was sure that you would always give it to him straight." Emma explains.

Baze smiles but looks at her weirdly. "Why is your face like that?"

"Because I busted my butt to sign him and you turned him by doing the one thing I told you not to do. It's more depressing than an episode of The Biggest Loser. I'm sorry." She says, slowly. "I told you to lie. Apprentley, who you are is more appealing than I realized." She says, walking away.

"Thanks." Baze says, unsure.

"And, um, if you need a couple hours because of your kids, the illigitamate ones, that can probably be arranged." She says, before continuing towards her office. Baze laughs and shakes his head not believing what just happened. Maybe he was going to do good at this job.

At school; Jones is at his locker when Lux walks up to him.

"Jones, we should talk." She tells him. Jones stands there waiting to hear it. "I know you must hate me. For lying to you and among other things."

"I don't hate you, Lux. I wish I did. It would make things easier. I lied, too, okay?" Lux looks at him puzzled. "When I said that I just wanted to go out as friends. I miss you, Lux. And I don't know about you, but I think this whole break up was a bad idea. Maybe there's a chance for us again. Maybe not now but down the road."

Lux smiles. "Yeah, maybe."

Jones smiles, too, before walking away.

Lux walks into the class that is going to be tutoring her. When she sees Eric she is a bit surprised.

"Eric? What are you doing here?"

Eric looks up at her. "Math didn't tell you?" He asks. Lux just stares at him. "I'm your new tutor." Lux laughs nervously, as she sets her books down on the desk.

Outside of Cate's house; Baze is putting up the basketball goal for Lux to practice on. Lux looks up a little afraid.

"That's high." She says. Baze gets down from the ladder, and grabs the basketball.

"Alright, Lebron, what you need is a killer crossover. But to get one of those you're going to have to learn to dribble with both hands." He explains. He tosses the ball to Lux. "Right then left."

Lauren stands off to the side bouncing her soccer ball up and down on each knee. "This is going to be fun to watch." She laughs, watching Lux. Lux just glares at her as she tries dribbling the basketball.

Cate comes outside and starts laughing. "Alright. I'm ready." She says.

"Alright. Are we ready to play or what?" Lux asks, as she acts like she knows what she is doing.

"Yes, we're going to play!" Cate tells her as she laughs.

Baze looks over at Lauren. "Hey, Lauren, care to join us?"

Lauren looks up at her dad. "Sorry, Dad. I'm a soccer player not a basetball player." She says, turning back around and focusing on her soccer ball. Baze looks at Cate as she laughs. He walks slowly behind Lauren and grabs her with one hand. "AH! Dad!" She yells.

"Two on Two!" He yells. He stands Lauren in the middle of the 'court.' Lux passes the ball over to her and she quickly turns and throws it up in the goal making it with ease. Baze and Cate look at eachother with surprising looks.

"I win." She says, nonchantlantly, trying to walk back to her soccer ball, but Baze turns her around.

"Lauren's on my team!" Baze yells, grabbing the ball.

Lux runs over trying to steal it from Baze. The ball slips from his hands and into Lux's. She throws it into the goal and makes it.

"Yes!" She and Cate both yell.

Soon they were all enjoying the game and eachother. Baze grabs Lauren and sits her on his shoulders as she makes it in. Cate grabs the ball and throws it to Lux and she makes it in again. Shockingly to all of them they were actually having a family moment and enjoying every second of it as they forgot their fears, their broken hearts, and focused on what mattered most. Family.


	25. Work Hard, Play Hard

At the studio Cate had decided to stop sulking over her new producing job and decided to imbrace it. She wasn't going to bitch and complain about the job considering some people didn't even have jobs. So, to make a good example for her kids, Cate got up every morning, she put on a big smile, and got ready to do very big producer things at the Ryan and Kelly show.

Cate walks in and sees Ryan stuffing his face with bagels before the show starts. "Hey, there you are!" Ryan tries to ignore her. "Hey!" She yells even louder. Ryan walks over to and she grabs the bagel out of his mouth. "You are not going to start the show with bagel mouth."

"Look just out of curiousity." Ryan says as they walk into the main room. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

"What up?"

"This whole type A producer eating no bagels thing." Ryan laughs as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"Until Corporate sees me as a professional."

"So it's going to be awhile then?" Cate rolls her eyes and hands the paperwork to Ryan. He walks over to his desk and sits down. "So, did you smooth things over with Kelly yet? You know, the whole golf ball in the head stuff?"

"We're professionals. I'm sure she's over it."

Kelly walks in. "Good Morning everyone. Lovely to see you, Ryan. Don." Kelly was clearly ignoring Cate's presence which meant that she was not over it. She reads the paperwork Cate had put on her desk. "What do we have here? Ten best places to make out? That's a bit trite, don't you think?" She asks, Ryan.

Cate decides to step in. She was not going to let Kelly just ignore her when they had to work with eachother, regardless if they were both happy about it. "We both have a job to do, Kelly. Why don't you just do your job and I'll do mine. Stick to the outline." She tells them as Ryan and Kelly get ready to start the show.

Cate walks out of the room and behind the window. She points at Ryan to begin. "Good Morning, Portland. It's Morning Madness with Kelly and Ryan!"

In the soccer field, Lauren is practicing with her team for the first game that was coming up. She was super excited to get back on the field after everything that had been happening to her and her family. Lauren figured it was time to get things back to normal, back to how things were before Lux came in the picture. Lauren ran and kicked the soccer ball right into the net. She still had it, she thought. The game was coming up so Lauren was doing a lot of practicing to get ready for it. Plus, ever since Jake told her he was moving away, she was trying to keep her mind on something a little more positive.

"Lauren, you ready for the game Friday!?" Coach ask her.

Lauren smiles, and shakes her head with enthusiam. "You know it, Coach!" She yells back.

Coach smiles and grabs the soccer ball. "Alright, hit the showers, girls. Our last practice before the game is tomorrow so be ready."

All the girls run off the field. As they were about to head back into the gym, Lauren looks over and at the corner of her eye she sees Jake making out with a girl. She couldn't believe this. Was Jake really moving, or was he just trying to occupy Lauren's mind with something else while he just made out with other girls? Lauren watches the girl move away from Jake and she starts running out of the quad. She didn't even go here. Jake turns to walk away and Lauren quickly makes her way into the locker room before Jake sees her.

At Baze's, Math is fixing himself some cereal. He turns around to grab the milk, but before he could pour it, Baze grabs the cereal and puts a protein shake in it's place.

"Hey!" Math groans.

"Hey, this sugar load of crap isn't good for breakfast in the morning." Baze tells him.

"And this is?" Math asks as he points to the shake in front of him.

Baze holds up his. "Uh, this is a high protein shake. We've got our first game coming up. We've got to be in top shape." Baze reaches over and grabs the handbook for the basketball team. "Math, I don't want to overstep as assistant coach, but however, I took the liberty of updating some plays for you."

"The JV girls basketball team has lost every game this season." Math tells him.

"Hey, this is Lux's first game. I want this to be a positive winning experience. It's time for a new attitude."

Math puts on a smile. "You're right. After losing 25 games in a row I'm sure all they need is a new attitude."

Baze takes a sip of his shake and tries not to throw up in the process. Math watches him and starts to smirk. He was wondering how long Baze would go with this. "Mmm." Baze looks back at Math. "Taste like victory."

In the school, Lux is trying to study in an empty room. She was having trouble figuring it out and so far all she had was a blank sheet paper looking at her.

"Lux." Eric walks over to her and looks behind her shoulder. "You've been staring at that practice test for ten minutes. The idea of a practice test is to actually practice." He says, making Lux laugh.

"This is awkward." She says, looking at Eric. "You tutoring me. It's like I'm in my sister's position, since she did date her tutor. Seriously, this tutoring thing is not going to help. Yes, it makes sense but as soon as I see this test I go blank."

Eric sits down in front of her. "Okay, well, go blank. Is it like nerves? Pressure?"

"It feels more like blank."

"Well, did it start at Westmonte? Or maybe Longfellow?"

Lux was surprised to hear that Eric knew about Longfellow. She and Eric both try to reach for the folder that is laying in the middle of them. "Did you read my file?"

Eric ignores her question and pulls his hand back from hers. "A lot of learning issues are psychological. So, it helps to look at a students past and shed light on the problems." He explains.

Lux laughs nervously. "Problems?"

"I didn't know you were in foster care. That can explain a lot." Lux was becoming less interested in this topic now. She just wanted to get up and run. "Did you miss a lot of school?"

Lux sighs and decides that running wasn't going to help because they'd just be back at square one yet again. "Actually, yeah. There was this one time I was in a car accident and I broke my leg and dislocated my shoulder. This woman, this nurse, she was taking care of me. She was nice. She seemed like she liked me. But then, then it got creepy. Like she was crazy or something."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. She started keeping me home from school and nobody knew where I was. And she told me write these stories. She told me she was my number one fan."

Eric stares at Lux before he starts laughing. "That's the plot of Misery." He tells her as Lux joins into his laughing. "That's messed up."

"Yes, but you bought." She says just as the bell rings. "Look, Eric, give it up. There's no deep dark secret that explains why I suck in school." Lux grabs her things and starts walking to class leaving Eric sitting there thinking that there was actually more than what Lux was telling him, or what her file was telling him.

At the station, Cate is going through some work, during the break, when Ryan walks up to her.

"Hey, what are you doing for lunch?" He asks her.

Cate shakes her head. She still couldn't believe about what happened during the show earlier. "I cannot believe you took her side."

"Look I didn't take her side. We were on air and I had to go with it." Ryan sits down in front of Cate.

"She had a serious problem with female authority."

"Or with you calling her an uptight hag with plastic boobies that no one wants to have sex with on air."

"Okay! I got it! Everything is my fault. How about you use your awesome powers and you help me fix it."

"Well, you could do what Alice did with you. Just take her out and pump her full of vodka and just kiss her ass until she does what she is told." Ryan jokes.

Cate starts packing up her things. "I cannot believe I have to cater to this. I mean, her book is ridiculous. We do not need a questionaire to know how compatiable we are." She walks over and sits next to Ryan. "Question 14. Finance: joint or separate accounts."

"Separate." Ryan says.

"Joint." Cate sighs. "This book is stupid."

Ryan starts laughing. "Okay, I don't care if you have a secret account in the Caymans, as long as we both agree to question 1. How many kids do you want? That is a no brainer. Six." Ryan says as Cate just stares at him. He looks back at her. "Two?"

"Including Lux and Lauren?" Cate asks with a smile.

"Yeah, funny." He laughs with her.

"Oh, I just seen Kelly. I'm going to take your advice and I am going to ask her on a date." Cate runs away from Ryan and down the hall to catch up with Kelly.

In the gym, the girls are practicing. Baze is sitting on the bleachers watching as every single girl misses a shot into the goal. Lauren walks in and starts laughing when she sees her sister running after the ball and missing it completely. She walks and over and sits next to her dad.

"Wow. Math wasn't joking when he said they really suck." She says. Baze just looks at his daughter and shakes his head.

Tasha is working on some homework just as ball hits her on the shoulder and knocks her down. "Whoa! Rose, Rose, Rose!" Baze yells. "It's a basketball. Let's not knock Tasha out. Alright, everybody, huddle up! You don't mind, right?" Baze asks, Math who looked a little bummed that Baze was taking his place.

"Be my guest." Math tells him.

"Alright, come on, girls. Bring it in." Tasha walks over and sits next to Lauren who is still laughing. The girls huddle around Baze. "Okay, tomorrow, you're going into our first game against Maplewood and I know what you're thinking: they beat you last year that some might call a massacre."

"I didn't think it was really that bad." Rose tells him.

"That's a great attitude. Seriously, what is the one thing we need to win this game tomorrow?"

"To be taller." One girl tells him sarcastically.

"Never hurts."

"Hand and eye coordination?" Another tells him.

"That would help. What we need is a winner's attitude. Now look, I may not know much, but I know of this. I know sports. And I know that you guys can do this. You're a winner. You are all winners. Now get out there and practice like the winners that you are! Come on, wasps!" Baze and Math start cheering the girls on to get them motivated while they run back onto the court.

"That was really beautiful, Dad." Lauren jokes.

"Thank you."

"But we're still going to lose." She says, running over to Tasha who is on the side goal shooting around and actually making it into the goal.

Baze looks over and is stunned by what he is seeing. "We need that." He tells Math. Tasha is continuously making into the goal as Lauren stands by watching. She couldn't believe it just as much as her dad and Math couldn't. "You got an extra jersery?"

After school, Lauren and Lux decided to walk home with Tasha. They couldn't stop talking about how Tasha made it on the team.

"I can't believe you made it on the team." Lux laughs.

"Did you see Dad's face when she sunked that three pointer?" Lauren asks. "The only time I've ever seen him that emotional is when we were watching Christian the Lion."As they are walking, Lux stops in front of a house that was really familiar to her. Tasha and Lauren stop walking, too, when they notice Lux staring at it. "Lux?" Lauren says as she nudges Lux a little to get her attention.

A woman walks out to get her mail and stops when she sees Lux. Lux and the woman stare at eachother for a few minutes. "Lux, let's go." Tasha grabs Lux's arm and pulls her away as the woman continues to stare at them. Lauren takes a seconds look before catching up with them.

At a bar Cate and Kelly are having a few drinks, and well they were drunk, and laughing like they were best friends.

"I'm sorry I was such a bitch." Kelly tells her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," Cate says. "I was the bitch. You're not this radio meat pupput that has to do everything that I say."

"No, you know what the people want. I'm emotionally remote and people think I'm dead inside." Kelly says sadly as she bites on a lemon.

"No, you're not. Listen to me you're this smart, incredible, amazing, educated woman and that whole 29 point thing that you came up with. That is amazing!"

"27." Kelly corrects her.

Cate rolls her eyes. "Well, whatever. I took your test. And it turns out that Ryan and I, we, don't agree on major issues."

"Like what?"

"Uh, like finances." Cate tells her. "And kids. You know, Ryan, he wants a pile. Surprise, hi, don't want any!" Cate laughs.

"So how'd you work through that?"

"The point is.." Cate says, ignoring Kelly. "I just realized, as much as I don't even want to admit this, you do know what you're talking about."

Kelly smiles and stands up. "I think I need to use the little virgin's room." She starts to move but falls straight to the ground.

"We're going to need a cab." Cate tells the bartender.

"I think I'm going to hurl."

"Two cabs."

When Cate gets back, she drunkenly makes her way towards Lux's room, where Lux is just laying in bed.

"I thought those stairs were hard to climb sober." She says, as she walks up into Lux's room. "What are you still doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep." Lux tells her.

Cate stumbles towards Lux. "What? Why? Are you okay? What happened?" She asks with worry.

"It's nothing." Lux lies.

Cate falls onto Lux's bed and glares at her daughter. "It doesn't look like nothing."

"I just..when me, Tasha, and Lauren were walking home from school, we actually walked by one of my old foster homes."

"What? Was it bad? Did something happen?" Cate asks even more concerned than she was before.

Lux shakes her head. "No, nothing happened. It just brought back some memories. Don't worry, though, I didn't tell Lauren anything."

"Okay, well, from now on if you guys decide to walk home let's try a different route. Just please steer clear of there, okay? I don't want to risk something happening again to both my daughters. Got it?" Lux smiles and nods her head. "Okay. Is Lauren asleep?"

"Yeah, I think so. I heard Foster and her arguing over something. She was yelling and he was barking, but I haven't heard anything in awhile." Lux laughs.

Cate stands up and rolls her eyes. "I swear, that dog." Cate walks over to the stairs and turns back to Lux. "Hey, everything will be okay. I promise."

Lux just smiles again and Cate walks back down the stairs, wobbling on the way, making Lux laugh a little.

In Lauren's room, Cate walks in and finds Foster laying sideways on Lauren's chest as they are both sound asleep. She walks closer to Lauren and bends down and kisses her on her forehead. But as goes to stand back up she falls right on the side of Lauren. "Well, this is comfortable." Cate whispers and decides to stay where she is at.

The next day, Cate and Ryan are in the office talking about something when Kelly walks in.

"Good morning, compatriots." Kelly says, happily. "Cate, you look lovely today." Cate takes off her sunglasses and smiles at Kelly. "I brought you a salmon bagel."

Cate reaches for the bag while she tries not puke at the same time. "Okay. This is the outline for today's show." Cate hands her the paperwork for today.

"Looking forward to it." Kelly gleams as she walks out of the office.

"Hey, Portland, you're joining the Madness with Ryan and Kelly." Ryan announces through the radio.

"Today's topic is make-up sex." Kelly tells them. "Is it worth the arguing?" Kelly smiles towards Cate who is watching from the window.

"Okay, Kelly, making love to make peace. Yay or nay?"

"Definite yay." Kelly tells him. "But sex is not a solution for waiving your issues."

"Well, maybe not for you since you're not getting any like the rest of us."

"Oh, really? So, you're telling me that sex can solve all of your problems with Cate?"

"Yes."

"What about finances?"

"Yeah."

"What about your family?"

Cate's smile fades when she realizes that Kelly is bringing the topics of last night's drink session onto the air. "Okay, I defy you to name a problem with my relationship that sex can't fix."

"What about not wanting kids? That's a big issue. You want a litter and Cate said without a doubt she doesn't want..." Cate bangs on the window for Kelly to stop talking. Kelly looks over at Cate then back at the mic. "..any."

Ryan glares at Cate who is just as surprised as he is, but for different reasons.

In the hallway at school, Lauren closes her locker and starts walking to class when she runs into Jake talking to the same girl he was making out with the other day. She had about enough and storms over to him.

"So, are you really moving or just moving fast with another girl?" Lauren asks. She was angry. Jake had never seen Lauren this angry before and he was kinda feeling bad for it.

"What are you talking about, Lauren?"

"Seriously, Jake? Are you seriously going to act dumb right now? I seen you making out with this skank the other day after my soccer practice. So, like I said before you just wanted me to think you were moving, but you were actually going out with another girl!"

"I don't even go here." The girl tells Lauren with a snotty attitude.

"I'm not talking to you." Lauren tells her.

Jake stands between the two and looks at Lauren. "Lauren, I really am moving. Ashley is a girl I met when I went with my parents to check out the new school I'm going to. It's not that far from here."

"Yeah, so how about you go play barbies or something with your little friends."

"Really!?" Lauren yells as she pushes Jake away and tackles the girl on the ground.

"Get off of me!" Ashley yells.

"Not so big now, huh!" Lauren yells as she pulls Ashley's hair and Ashley pushes her hand against Lauren's face.

Baze walks out from the commotion while he was at practice with Lux and sees his youngest on the ground with a girl. "Lauren Bazile!" He yells, running over to them and quickly grabs Lauren, swiftly, with one hand. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ashley stands up and Jake pushes her back. He couldn't believe Lauren actually started a fight. "I hate you Jake!" Lauren yells. "I wish you would just move already!"

Lux peeks her head out from inside the gym and sees Baze carrying Lauren down the hall. Her face was red with fury and not just because their was blood trickling down her face from Ashley's nails.

At Ryan's, Cate walks in without knocking. She had to explain herself to him especially since Ryan wouldn't even finish the show and he just left.

"Ryan!" She yells as she walks to the kitchen where Ryan is sitting down. "You stormed out without letting me explain myself."

"To explain what?" Ryan asks as he stands up to become face to face with his girlfriend. "That you're telling the coworkers something that you're not telling me, or that you don't want kids?"

"Alright, look, it shouldn't have come out that way. Kelly, she shouldn't have said anything."

"Oh, okay. So, now it's Kelly's fault. You want to take responsibility for anything you do?"

"Ryan, I had an entire bottle of champagne. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So now it's the champagnes fault!? Cate, if we are going to fix this relationship that we have going right now then you need to discuss things with me. Not go and discuss them with some strangers. Don't you think that I want some kids of my own? Not just Baze's!?" He yells. "I want kids, Cate!"

Cate sighs and looks up at Ryan with sad eyes. "I already have kids, Ryan."

Ryan shakes his head. "Lux and Lauren aren't my kids, Cate." Cate rolls her eyes. She knew this wasn't going to work. "You know what? This is actually very simple. You either want to have a kid with me or you don't. And if you don't, then I don't know why we are trying to make this work in the first place." Ryan walks away leaving Cate with her thoughts. She knew what she wanted. She was happy with what she had. But now she was definitely going to end up losing Ryan for good if she couldn't figure out things.

It was after school and Baze is dropping off Lauren and Lux, but instead he decides to walk in with them so that he made sure that Lauren explains exactly what happened in the hallway today with Jake's new girlfriend.

"Ugh, why are you coming in?" Lauren groans.

"I want to make sure you tell your mom everything." Baze tells her as he follows Lux and Lauren into the house.

"We're home, Cate!" Lux yells as she drops her school bag on the ground along with Lauren's.

Cate walks into the living room. "Hey, how was..." She stops when she sees Lauren's red face. "What the hell happened!?" She asks while running towards Lauren to examine her face.

Lauren rolls her eyes as Baze nudges her to tell her mom. "I got in a fight." Lauren tells her.

Cate stands back and glares at her daughter. "You what?"

"She got in a fight, Cate, with some girl that doesn't even go to Westmonte." Baze explains.

Cate was confused. "Then why did you get in a fight? Why was she there?"

"She's Jake's new girlfriend." Lux laughs.

Lauren goes to lunge at Lux, just as she runs up to her room, but Baze grabs her like before. "Put me down!" She yells.

"No. Not until you explain to me and your mom why you tackled that girl." Baze tells her.

"She kept making jokes about my age. And Jake is moving. He's moving closer to her!" Lauren yells as she tries not to cry. Baze and Cate notice and Baze sets Lauren down gently.

"Jake's moving?" Cate asks her, sadly.

Lauren closes her eyes to make her tears stay clear of her cheeks. "Yeah. And he just brought another girl to make out with in front of me before he does. I hate him." She whispers. "Can I go to my room now?" She asks.

Cate and Baze exchange looks. "Yeah, go." Cate tells her. Lauren runs upstairs and slams the door to her room. "Do we even know why she broke up with Jake in the first place?"

Baze shakes his head. "No. But I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Math says her grades have been slipping again."

Cate sighs. "What?"

"He's going to get her another tutor, that's a boy, and hopefully that will straighten her out. And hopefully, if Jake is really moving like she says he is then maybe we'll finally have our old Lauren back."

"What was her punishment?" Cate asks.

"No soccer." He says, sadly. "She has to miss her first game."

"What?" Cate says in surprise. "But she's been looking forward to this game since she started. Ugh. Great. Now I have to deal with two bitchy teenagers."

Baze laughs. "Well, I'll see you tonight at Lux's game." He tells her as he walks out.

Cate looks up at the stairs and groans. This was not going to be a fun day she thought.

At the game, Lux's team was doing horribly. Lux is sitting the bench, which she was happy about, and Baze has Tasha out on the court. Tasha was doing well, it was just the rest of the team that weren't so great. Lauren, Cate, and Ryan are sitting in the bleachers watching. Jake walks in and Lauren notices him and goes to stand up, but Cate grabs her daughter's arm and sits her back down, closer to her. Lauren looks at her mom who gives her a stern look to sit or else. She rolls her eyes and focuses back on the game.

"That's alright, girls! Let's be strong on D!" Baze yells to the team, but the opposing team makes, yet, another point. Baze watches Rose grab the ball. "Come on, Rose!" Rose looks nervously around before throwing it off to the opposing team. "Rose!"

"Alright, Lux, get in there. Rose!" Math switches the girls out.

"Come on, Lux!" Ryan yells.

'I'm going get something to drink." Lauren tells them.

"You better come right back." Cate tells her.

Lauren rolls her eyes and starts walking away. "I will."

Cate looks at Ryan and gives him a small smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Well, I wasn't going to miss Lux's first game. And if Lauren was at her game tonight, I would be there, too." Ryan tells her.

Cate sighs. "Even though they're not your kids?"

Ryan was stumped on what to say. "I'm sorry that it came out that way."

"I'm the one that should be sorry because I've been secretly afraid since we've started things up again, that what we want may not be compatiable. When Lux came around, I just assumed that she would be our kid. We already treated Lauren like she was both of ours when Baze wasn't around. I thought that would be enough." Cate explains.

"Cate, it's not that the girls aren't enough. No matter how close we all get, I'm the guy on the outside. Lauren made that clear few months ago. I'm never going to be the dad that gets invited to career day, or gets to give them away at their weddings. I'm the guy sitting up here in the nose bleed section. Cate, if I could be that guy to Lux and Lauren then I would be, but they have Baze. And I see what they have. I see what you all have. It's all I want."

Cate holds back her tears and looks at Ryan nervously. "You know, the first time I got pregnant wasn't the best experience and sadly, obviously, neither was the second. I was really scared. I was alone, so..."

Ryan quickly takes Cate's hand, lovingly. "Cate, you're not alone this time."

"I know that I'm not. I know. I do. I want more kids. It's just taking me a little while to come around. I just don't want to lose you, Ryan. Not again. Look, I don't even know what getting pregnant is going to be like. I don't even know if I can."

"Cate, we'll try."

Cate stares at Ryan and smiles. "Okay. Let's do that. Let's try."

Ryan bends down and kisses Cate gently on the lips. Lauren walks up and starts making gagging noises. "Geez, we're at Lux's game guys. Can you be more embarrassing?" Cate pulls Lauren down next to her and kisses her hard on her forehead, making her daughter swirm. "Ew, Mom, you just kissed Ryan!"

Cate and Ryan start laughing. "Nice." Ryan tells her.

They start watching the game again and as soon as they do they see the basketball going straight to Lux and hits her square in the shoulder, knocking her down on the ground. "Oh! Hold on!" Lux yells. Her teammates help her up. "I think I broke my butt." She says, hobbling over to the bench. Lauren starts laughing hysterically while Cate and Ryan are watching in horror. JV officially sucked.

In the locker room, all the girls are standing and sitting around sulking about the game. They were losing and they were feeling horrible about it. Baze and Math walk in.

"Everyone come here." Baze says as everyone comes closer to him. "I'm sorry for acting so unprofessional out there. And I'm really sorry for lying to you about our chances. I guess I didn't think you guys could deal with the truth. And the truth is.." Baze looks at one of the girls. "Patricia, you're not going to lose the weight by homecoming. It's physically impossible, and team, we're just not good." He says in all honestly. "But none of that means that you should give up. Because Patricia, you are going to lose that weight by Prom, and team, we are going to keep trying because even if there was a 99% chance of us losing, then that is what it is. It's not what is on the scoreboard at the end of this game. Winning is knowing that we have eachother's backs, and that we are going to take care of eachother on the court and off. So, ladies, what I would like you to do is get your game on and I want you to give them a run for their money!" He yells as he gets everyone amped up. They all leave the locker except for Tasha and Lux.

"Hey, Lux, can we talk?" Tasha asks her.

Lux turns back around and sits next to Tasha on the bench. "Sure."

Tasha takes a deep breath. "You've been acting really weird since that walk home the other day. I wasn't going to bother you about it, but now you're kinda worrying me. What's going on?"

Lux was not expecting Tasha to bring that subject up again. "I used to live there." Lux tells her. She had a hard time even saying that. Tasha looks at Lux with worry. "I was twelve or thirteen. That woman that came out is Valerie. She didn't have a maternal bone in her body. It just got really bad when I was there."

Tasha grabs Lux's hand. "Hey, forget it. You don't have to explain anything."

"It just brought up bad memories. I'm sorry. But I'm fine now. I promise."

Tasha smiles and brings her friend into a hug. "Okay. Let's get back out there."

On the court the team was actually doing really well thanks to Baze's speech. They were doing amazing in defense and the other team was actually missing shots. Baze and Math were exstatic. Lux takes the ball and runs it down the court. She dribble and put her hand up to set up the play. Tasha runs to the other side and Lux throws the ball to her. Tasha throws the ball up and it makes it clear into the goal. Cate and Ryan shoot up from their seats and are jumping up and down in excitment. Cate pulls Lauren up and makes her jump around with them. Lauren had to admit she was pretty happy for Lux and the team, so she started clapping and ran down the bleachers and hugged her dad. Lux and Tasha hug eachother and then Lux runs over and hugs both her sister and her dad. Baze couldn't believe what just happened, even though they lost, they scored!

Back at the house, everyone was calming down from the game. Lauren is up in her room, on her computer doing homework, when an email pops up on her screen. She opens the mail and sees that it's from Jake. '_I'm sorry for everything. You won't have to worry about seeing me again, though. I am moving tomorrow and I won't be back at school. I will always love you, Lauren." _Lauren lets her tears fall as she stares at the computer screen. Downstairs, Lux walks into the front door and picks up an envelope that was slipped under the door. Her name is written on the front of it. She knew that handwriting. Up in Cate's room, Cate and Ryan were doing something that was unexpected. As they layed in bed, Cate on top of Ryan, it wasn't marriage, but it was another step. Cate was still unsure, but she wanted to make things right with Ryan, even if marriage wasn't the way for them right now.

"I think we just proved Kelly wrong." Cate laughs along with Ryan. "Make sex can fix any marital issue."

Ryan looks over at the flowers on Cate's nightstand. "The flowers are nice. You know, Kelly must have really felt bad. Hey, why don't you call her and just let her know that everything is okay."

Cate nods her head. "Yeah. Okay." She laughs. "I think I should just let her worry for a little longer." Ryan laughs and rolls Cate over off of him so that he can get on top.

"So, we're really doing it, huh?" He asks. "We're gonna try for a baby? So, you're going to stop drinking champagne and get off the pill?"

"After my night out with Kelly I can barely look at champagne."

"Well, tell you what. I'm going to put the rest of that in the fridge and we're going to have some fun trying for a baby." Ryan bends down and kisses Cate one last time before he gets up. Cate flips over and gets her purse from the floor. She digs in it and grabs her pills. She stares at them before dropping them into the trash next to her bed. Cate really wanted to be sure about this.

Upstairs Lux is sitting at her desk and opens the letter from Valerie. She sees the picture of herself and Valerie. They were happy. She starts reading the letter and smiles as tears fall down her face.

Cate picks up the pills from the trash and takes one out. She looks around to make sure Ryan doesn't walk back in and she takes it. She settles back down on her pillow.

Lux rips the letter up. She was angry that Valerie ruined everything that they had, but she had something better now. She had her real parents and her real sister. Valerie couldn't mess this up for her. Not now.


	26. Hard To Love

Cate and Ryan are getting at it once again. Ryan was really determined to get Cate pregnant and Cate was just happy to just be getting it. They were both off from work so that they could get ready for the festival that was coming up but they just couldn't seem to get their hands off eachother. Ryan falls to the side of Cate as they both are breathing heavily.

"I can get use to this trying for a baby thing." Ryan tells her.

There's a knock downstairs on the door and Baze walks in. "Yo! Cate, are you home?"

Ryan groans and lays back down. "He's just here for the tickets." Cate assures him.

Lauren walks in without knocking and sees Cate in her cover up and Ryan without his shirt. "WHOA! Okay!" She says, covering her eyes. "I did not need to see this."

"Lauren!" Cate yells".

"I'm going to go shower." Ryan jumps up and runs to the bathroom. Cate stands up and puts her robe on.

"Dad's here for the tickets." Lauren tells her with her eyes still covered.

"Yeah, I heard him." Cate says, as she walks over and pushes Lauren out of the room. Cate turns back around and grabs her pills that are hiding under some clothes. She takes one and grabs the water.

"Cate!" Baze yells again. "Good morning! Good morning! Good morning!" Baze walks in dressed in a suit and tie with Lux and Tasha running in from behind him.

Cate runs downstairs. "I'm sorry. I should have sent these over with Lux last night. I've just been so busy organizing the concert." She grabs the bag of tickets and them to Lux. "We have tickets and VIP passes to get you in the back and thank you for chaperoning." Cate says sincerely to Baze.

"You're welcome." Lux, Tasha, and Lauren start digging through the bag to get all their cool stuff.

"And the meaning of that thank you is that you actually chaperone."

"Cate, it's a concert. I don't think they will get into any trouble." Cate looks over at Lux who is putting the VIP pass around Tasha's neck just as the front door swings open.

"Yoo-hoo!" Cate's mom, Laverne yells as she comes in carrying a basket full of baby stuff. "I can't believe I am going to be a grandma!"

Lux and Lauren look at eachother with their mouths wide open and watch as Cate's mom puts the basket down on the table. "Mom." Cate says.

Baze looks confused, too. "Mom, you're pregnant!?" Lauren asks.

"No. No." Cate says, quickly, shaking her head.

"They're still just trying at this point." Laverne tells them. "This is just a little something to help the process along."

Lauren and Lux still couldn't believe what they were hearing. "So, you're trying?" Baze asks.

"Um, you know, you guys have the tickets so you should probably just go." Lauren and Lux couldn't move as they watch Laverne wrap boas and crap around Cate. Tasha grabs them both and leads them towards the door. Baze takes one last look and then follows the girls out of the house.

At school, Baze pulls up in the parking lot and they all get out.

"Hey, Cate gave us a few extra tickets." Tasha tells them as Lux opens the back of the jeep to get their bags. "Should we invite boys? I don't know who to bring but maybe you could ask Jones. You two are hitting it off again, huh?"

"Yeah, well, I'm not. I'm going solo. Maybe I'll meet someone there." Lauren tells them.

"Or not." Baze grins as he hands Lauren her bag and she just rolls her eyes at her dad.

"You better do something, dude, or you are going to end up like Baze here." Tasha laughs. "Old and single."

Baze slams the back door of his jeep and follows the girls towards the school. "First off I am not permanently single, and second Tasha is right. You should definitely try it again with Jones. He's a good dude and you can't wait for someone else who isn't an option."

Lux glares back at Baze. "Me? What about you?"

"What?" Baze asks, confused. "Cate? I am not hung up on Cate. I've dated lots of other women."

Lux snorts. "Who, like Abby, Cate's sister. Or Trina, Cate's boss, or Paige, Cate's boyfriend's sister? No, I'm not seeing a pattern here at all."

"That's messed up." Tasha laughs.

"Hey, I'm a single dad." Baze tells them as they turn to face him. "It's hard to meet someone that's not Cate related. But I can have a date with a non Cate person anytime I want."

"Fine. Prove it." Lauren teases.

"Yeah, bring someone to the concert." Lux tells him.

"I will. You know what? Lets all bring dates. I mean, there's a whole sea of guys out there." Lux turns around and sees Eric talking to another teacher. "Just find someone you like."

During study period Lux is sitting at a table with Eric for tutoring as he questions her on the book he has in his hands.

"Okay, so Chapter nine when Johnny says stay cold, Ponyboy, what does that mean?" Eric asks Lux.

"There's a boy that's cold and half pony?" Lux says not interested.

Eric sighs and puts down the book while he looks at Lux. "Okay, what's wrong? You hate this book this much?"

"No, no, no. It's not that. I just found out that Cate's trying to have a baby." Lux tells him.

"Wow. That sucks. I mean, you just found Cate." Lux scowls. She wasn't expecting Eric to understand. "You're probably not ready to share her with anyone else except your sister, even if that someone is the size of a burrito." Lux starts laughing. Eric did understand, though. "When my parents brought my baby brother home, I found this box in the attic and I wanted to ship him to China in it."

"How'd that work out?"

"Fantastic. He lives in Chang Hi." Eric jokes. "He owns a very successful noodle shop. It worked out for everyone." Lux shakes her head and laughs just as the bell rings. She stands up and grabs her things before turning back to Eric.

"Hey, you know that K-100 concert this weekend? I actually got some extra tickets and I was maybe thinking about inviting someone, like on a date. Not that I'm asking you out on a date, but.."

Eric stands up to face Lux. He wanted to say yes so badly but he knew he couldn't. "Lux, I wish I could, but I can't."

"I know you can't with me, but it's not just me. There's like a thousand other people that are going to be there, and me."

"That's not it..well, yeah, it is. But I'm already going."

Lux smiles. "Well, then, we can go together."

Eric sighs and looks back at Lux. "Lux, I've got a date."

Lux is silent as she stares at Eric. Maybe this whole thing was just for fun afterall. "Oh." She pulls away from Eric and turns around and walks out.

At the house, Cate is going through the basket with her mom.

"So, Ryan told you?" Cate asks her.

"Yeah, well, he let it slip." Laverne tells her. "He's so excited."

"Yeah, well, that makes one of us." Cate was not thrilled with this whole kid thing and that didn't go unnoticed by her mom.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing."

Laverne puts the stuff down and walks around to Cate. "Alright. Start talking, Cate, or I'm going to get the wine and day drink it out of you."

Cate rolls her eyes and looks up at her mom. "You know, Ryan wants to have a kid, and I just don't."

"But you're trying."

"Yeah, you know, Ryan is." Cate stands up and walks into the kitchen. "I'm still kinda on the pill." She says, quietly.

"Cate!" Laverne yells and follows her daughter.

"Mom, don't yell at me."

"He's going to notice, don't you think, when you're not getting pregnant."

"Yeah, well, lots of women, they don't get pregnant."

"Not in this family." Laverne tells her. "Just the sight of a man and two buck Chuck and I start ovulating."

"Mom, you know what. Nevermind." Cate starts pouring herself some coffee. "It's a long story. It's too long to get into right now. Look, Ryan, he just needs to think that I am trying right now."

"Why?"

"Well, because if I am not trying, Mom, he's going to leave me. Again." Cate says. She never said it outloud before and it was kinda weird and scary. The thought of Ryan leaving her, again, freaked her out.

"If Ryan finds out that you're lying to him about something this important, take my word for it, he's gone." Laverne tries to say as kindly as she could. She couldn't believe her daughter right and Cate couldn't believe herself right now. Her mom was right. That was another hard thing to think about.

At school, Lauren is walking down the hallway when she suddenly stops in front of Jake's old locker. She didn't know how many times she read his email, but she was so tired she could barely think straight from doing it. Jake was the only one she ever... she couldn't even say it. It wasn't worth saying anymore, anyway, because Jake was gone. She'd probably never see him again. But as Lauren continued to stare at the now empty locker, one of her teammates nudges her.

"Hey, come on, soccer practice!" She yells as she continues down the hall.

Lauren looks at her friend then she turns back to Jake's locker. She could not let him get to her this way. She had to move on like she was suppose to.

At Baze's work, Baze is sitting at his desk when Emma walks over to him.

"Nate, word." She orders him as she walks into her office. Baze gets up and walks into her office. "I heard you asking my secretary out to that concert."

"Is there some kinda of dating policy I'm not aware about?" Baze asks, sarcastically.

"I am going with you to that concert." She tells him.

"So, I guess not."

"It's not a date. We're trying to broaden our cliental and going after recording artist and atheletes. Mia Catalano will be performing there. Her producer is Haley Scott, she's a singer as well, and she has a husband in the NBA."

"Nathan Scott. He's the point guard for the Bobcats."

"Was. He just retired. He and his wife have a ton of money just waiting to be invested and I want to meet her."

"I'll get right on that. I'm sure Cate can get another ticket."

"No, I don't need an extra ticket. I need access." She tells him. "You have access, I have you, so get me backstage, introduce me to Haley, and then you can go on whatever stupid date you have."

Baze couldn't argue with her, as much as he wanted to, but instead he just shakes his head and walks out of her office. This concert she be fun he says to himself sarcastically.

At the concert, Ryan is on stage about to announce the performers.

"What up, Portland!" He yells into the mic. The crowd goes crazy and starts screaming and clapping. "I'm Ryan Thomas and I am going to be your host for K-100 Sugar Magnolia festival! We got a great line of bands for you this afternoon. The Radioactive Armadillos are here! And we got Ben Lee in the house! Let's here it for our next performer. She is here from all the way from North Carolina. Put your hands together for the one and only, Mia Catalano." Ryan walks off stage as the music starts and Mia walks up to the mic and begins to sing.

Baze, Paige, Lux, Lauren Laverne, Jones and Tasha are walking through the crowd. Lux is dressed in a short short shirt that shows off her stomach, covering up with a jacket, and her hair is straightened. Lauren's hair is similar but she is wearing presentable clothes that Baze would actually let her walk out of the house with.

"I don't like this." Baze tells them. "I don't like this new look."

"Paige gave me a makeover." Lux tells him.

Baze glares at Paige. "What? She asked me to. She looks hot, right?"

Baze looks at Jones. "Hey, little dude, hands off of her."

Jones just stares at Baze not knowing what he was talking about. Lux pulls Tasha a side. "I told you I didn't want a date."

"Uh, really, because your outfit says you do." Tasha tells her. "If you didn't get dressed up for Jones then who the hell you slutted up for? I'm going to call you Slux? Is that cool?" Tasha jokes as Lux walks away laughing. "I think it has a good ring to it."

"Hey, thanks for watching out for the kiddos. I have to go check on my boss." Baze tells Laverne.

"Yeah, no problem. What should we do first? Seats or cocktails?" Laverne asks Paige.

"Cocktails." Paige sings.

Baze looks at them with worry in his eyes and Lauren just pats her dad on his shoulder. "I feel safe, Dad." She says, sarcastically.

"Oh, p.s." Tasha says, walking up to him. "Meeting your boss does not count as a non Cate related date."

"Uh, actually, I have a date and she's meeting me here. So, success for me, Lux, and even Paige."

"Hell yeah. I'm not wearing any underwear for nothin." Paige tells him.

"Alright, now all we have to do is find someone great for you, too." He tells Tasha.

"Hey, what about me?" Lauren asks.

"We're never finding someone great for you. I can't handle that anymore." Baze smirks at Lauren's eye roll and kisses her gently on the forehead before he walks away.

Backstage, Cate is hanging out with Haley as they watch Mia perform.

"You know, she's incredible." Cate tells her. Haley turns around and smiles at her. "How long have you been her producer?"

"Uh, three years." Haley tells her. "Yeah, she was just a shy little kid with a hoodie playing keyboard when I found her. I had to really convince her that she could go solo, you know?"

"Do you miss it? You know, now that you're producing and all. Going out there?"

"Yeah, sometimes. But there's really something amazing about nurturing someone else's talent. Call it maternal pride, I guess. I have a seven year-old at home, I'm taking mommy turns." She laughs.

"You have a seven year-old?" Cate asks, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"Pregnant my senior year of high school. I actually went into labor during my valedictorian speech."

Cate starts laughing. "Uh, I was pregnant, too." Haley looks back at her. "Uh-huh. Valedictorian. Yeah, knocked up by the quarterback."

"Small forward, Nathan."

"Nate."

Haley freezes at the similarites she and Cate had. "If you tell me you are pregnant with you second right now then we are officially in the twilight zone."

Cate smiles. "I had my second when I was twenty-one, girl, but we're trying."

"Ah, that's the fun part, right?"

Cate just looks up and grins at Haley as they continue to watch Mia.

Baze and Emma are walking towards backstage, well, Baze is actually walking further in front of Emma while she runs to catch up.

"Slow down." Emma begs him. "My heels are sinking into the grass. Date can wait."

"My date is waiting. Outside the gate." Baze walks up to the security guy. "Hey, man, my name is Nate Bazile. We have meeting backstage with Haley Scott, Mia's producer."

The guys checks the list and then shakes his head. "You're not on the list."

"You said Cate put us on it." Emma tells him.

Baze turns to Emma. "Yeah, she was suppose to me." He turns back to the security guy. "Are you sure we're not on the list?"

"You're not on the list. You're not coming in."

Baze takes a deep breath and turns around. "Come on. There's got to be another way in." He says as he walks away from the stage and Emma relunctantly follows.

Mia is finishing her song and the crowd goes crazy and applauses her. "Thank you very much." She tells them. "Now for this next song, I'd like to welcome a very special someone to the stage. She's one of my favorite artist of all time! Haley James Scott everybody!"

Haley takes a double take at Mia and immediately sinks down and Cate grabs her arm. "What!?"

"Surprise!" Cate yells.

"No!"

"Yes! It was Mia's idea." Cate pushes Haley towards the stage and she slowly but surely takes Mia's place and starts playing her song on the guitar.

In the crowd, Paige, Lauren, Lux, and Laverne walk through it, but as Laverne and Lauren continue through the crowd, Paige and Lux stop. Lux sees Eric and smiles. Eric smiles back, but it's Paige who notices him.

"Hey!" She yells to Eric. Lux looks up at Paige with a confused look. Paige and Eric? "Hey, you made it." Paige gleams as she runs over to Eric and hugs him tightly. Lux walks slowly over to them still trying to make sense of it. "Oh, Lux, you've met Eric, right?" Paige asks her. "Oh. Mr. Daniels. I met him at your basketball game."

Lux nods her head. "Yeah. We know eachother."

Eric looks confused and looks at Paige and Lux. "You guys know eachother?"

"Well, yeah, totally." Paige tells him.

"Paige is Cate's boyfriend's sister." Eric looks at Lux, dumbfounded. Lux rolls her eyes and turns her head. She could not believe this was happening.

Cate walks off stage in a panic.

"What's going on?" Ryan asks her.

"The Radioactive Armadillos have disappeared. I need to start calling for replacements." She tells him.

"I'll get your phone." Ryan walks to the van and looks for Cate's phone in her purse. Cate turns around just as Ryan turns around with Cate's birth control pills in his hand. All Cate could see was the hurt in Ryan's eyes. "Ryan."

At the seats, they were all finally sitting down and enjoying Ben Lee's song. Lux, on the other hand, couldn't keep her eyes off of Eric and Paige, who couldn't keep their hands off eachother. Tasha looks over at Lux.

"Hey, come on, you love this song." She tells her, but Lux ignores her. "Ben Lee is great, huh?" Tasha asks Jones.

"Oh, he's awesome!" Jones tells her. "This whole thing is awesome. It was awesome for you and Lux to bring me. I should probably stop saying awesome." Tasha laughs. "Hey, I'm going to grab something to drink. You want a soda?"

"If you can somehow find a way of making that soda a beer, then, yes, two."

"Oh, make it three!" Laverne yells from above them.

"I invited Jones because I thought you liked him. You've barely said two words to him." Tasha tells Lux.

"You're the one who asked him. I didn't even want him to come."

"Yeah, you're making that really clear. I mean, did you see him walk off? Even his hair looked sad."

Lauren peeks her head inbetween the two. "Lux has her eyes on some else, Tasha."

Lux quickly glares up at Lauren. "Who?" Tasha asks. "Do I know him?"

Lux takes her eyes off of Lauren who is just smirking. "No. It's no one. Lauren is just stupid. Where did Jones go?"

"Hopefully getting us some beer." Tasha tells her. "Hey, go help him before he gets thrown into concert jail." Lux sighs and gets up and walks away.

Lauren sits down in Lux's spot. "Any chance of letting me have a few sips of that beer?" She asks Tasha.

"I got you covered mini Lux." Tasha laughs as she wraps her arm around Lauren.

"Concert jail!?" Emma yells as security pushes them into the fenced in area of the concert. "You got us thrown into concert jail. Man, you are just out of a Scooby-Doo episode!"

"You know what? It's not my fault you don't have the upper body strength to get over a little fence! And don't you work out? A little biceps never hurt anybody."

"We're suppose to be signing Haley right now." Emma tells him.

"Hey, you know what?" Baze says, bending down next to Emma. "I didn't want to be here either. You're the one that railroaded my weekend! I was suppose to be on a date right now, not in some carny jail stuck with you."

A security guard passes by and Emma tries to get his attention. "How long are we stuck in here?"

"Until my supervisor comes."

Baze walks up. "And when is that going to be?"

"Whenever he feels like it. He loves Ben Lee." The security guard walks away and Baze sighs and sits down next to Emma. He starts messing with his phone to try to call his girls or Cate.

As Lux tries to find Jones, Eric runs up to her.

"Lux! Lux!" He yells. Lux starts laughing and smiles as Eric approaches her. "Hey, I was looking for you." Lux nods. "Look, I was just trying to move on. I was trying to date someone my age and I had no idea she was your aunt."

"Cate's boyfriend's sister." She corrects him.

"So, you and Jones? You two would be cute together if you gave him the time of day."

"It's not that I don't like him, it's just, we've tried it before and he just doesn't get me like you do. The whole Cate baby thing. I didn't even say anything and you got it."

"Yeah." Eric agrees and sits down on the ground. "Because I do. I get you." Lux sits down next to him. "And I get what you're doing even if you don't."

"What do you mean even if I don't? What am I doing?"

"You're picking the wrong guy. You did it with Bug and now you're doing it with me." He tells her.

Lux glares at Eric. "Alright, Oprah. Whatever." She laughs.

"No, listen. You're afriad of people not wanting you. Of people leaving you. So you pick people that it will never work with so that's the outcome. They walk away. That's the cycle. You plan on the one thing you don't want to happen to just prove yourself right." Lux looks away knowing Eric was right. See, he did get her.

"You know what?"

"Hm?"

"I was wrong. You don't get me." She lies as she stands up. "Nobody wants to be rejected and left behind. I'm not exactly a special case!"

"Yeah, you are." He says, standing up, too. "Look choosing a guy like Jones is breaking a cycle. And if you're not choosing him then for some reason you're not ready to break it. But if you are, pick someone who doesn't have to reject you. Give Jones the chance." Lux rolls her eyes. She did like Jones, but her heart was telling her one thing and her mind was telling her another, and right now, she actually wanted to go with her mind.

Lauren was finally able to break away from Laverne just as Jones came back with their drinks. Everyone had someone, even if Lux really didn't have someone physically by her side, she had someone. Lauren wasn't stupid. Ever since she seen and heard Eric and Lux talking in the hallway, she knew that something happened between them. But everyone had someone. Her someone left without looking back. As as much as she was enjoying the concert and seeing the love, she just wanted to go home. So as Lauren was scoping out the place for either her dad or mom, her eyes landed upon someone she least expected. Jake. Jake looks her way and gives her a small smile as Lauren does the same. She couldn't believe this. Jake was back.

In the van, Cate and Ryan are talking about what happened.

"Ryan, I am so sorry." Cate tells him.

"Did the truth ever occur to you!?" He yells. "Ever!?"

"I don't know why I don't want to have a kid. I don't know, maybe it's because I feel like a crappy mom already, or maybe it was because I had a crappy mom who didn't offer me one ounce of support during the hardest times of my life when I was pregnant with Lux and then when I was pregnant with Lauren. Or maybe it's because I just got Lux back, or maybe because my career isn't where I thought it would be, or because we've been back together for two seconds and maybe I just need some time to figure it out without you rushing me or hounding me or pressuring me.."

"Cate. You take all the time you need. Figure out whatever it is you need to figure out. I'm not pressuring you. I'm just trying to be honest with you." Ryan tells her. "But the truth is, if you don't have a hell of a good reason for lying about something this big I don't have a reason to stay in this relationship. Because I cannot be with you if I can't trust you. I can't. I can't do it." Ryan quickly gets out of the van before Cate could say anything to stop him.

"Why are you here?" Lauren asks Jake as they meet up in the middle.

Jake smirks at her. "I missed you." He says honestly.

"But you moved."

Jake grabs Lauren's hands. "I know. Did you get my email?"

"Yeah, I got it." She tells him. "I'm sorry I didn't reply back. I was..."

Jake covers her mouth with his hand. "It's okay. I wasn't expecting you to. I probably shouldn't have even came back."

"Then why did you?"

"I heard there was a concert here. I wanted to check it out. And, I found out your mom and Ryan were hosting it..soo..."

Lauren smiles up at Jake. She puts her hand up to cover his mouth. "I love you, Jake."

Jake steps back a little. He was a bit stunned at what he was hearing. "Wait. What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't say it before. I was surprised when you said it and honestly, it kinda scared me. But, I love you, Jake. I'm sorry for everything."

Jake reaches down and cups Lauren's face in his hand as he kisses her gently on the lips. Lauren pulls back and smiles at him before grabbing his hand again and pulling him away. They walk slowly passed Laverne and Paige who are standing by the stage in front of Ben Lee singing drunkenly along.

In the grass, Jones and Tasha are sitting together and sharing the beer Jones got for them.

"This is really fun hanging out with you." Jones tells her.

"Well, I'm no Lux." She says, handing him back the beer.

"Tasha, I didn't come for Lux." Tasha looks at Jones, curiously. "I came because you asked me to."

"What?" She smiles.

"Look, I've bene waiting around for Lux for like, ever. I said yes to you because I was tired of waiting, and because you're cool." Tasha looks away a little embarrassed. "And pretty. And it's hot that you can probably beat me up in a fight." He jokes.

"I could." She tells him. Jones laughs and leans in slowly and kisses Tasha.

Lux walks up and stops when she sees what they are doing. "Tasha?"

Tasha pulls away and looks at Lux. Lux doesn't stick around and she walks away. "Lux!" Tasha yells, jumping up to follow her. "It's not what you think."

"I think it's what it looked like."

"I invited Jones here for you, but you said you didn't even want him here. You're not even interested."

"You don't know what I am, Tash! You don't know what's going on with me!" Lux yells. "Just because I'm not all over him you take him for yourself!?"

Tasha grabs Lux and turns her around. "I didn't take him, okay!? He came here for me."

"He said that?"

"Yeah, is it so hard to believe that he'd be interested in me?"

"No, I just didn't expect to see you sucking on his face!"

"Yeah, well, you can't have it always. You can't have everything and everyone." Tasha tells her.

Lux laughs. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Look around, Lux. You've got Cate. You've got Baze. You've got Lauren, who for some reason looks up to you. And you got Ryan, and you got Paige giving you makeovers, and you have Jones pining for you!"

"Whoa. Where is this coming from?"

Tasha looks sadly at her best friend. "We were the same, Lux. Until your mom who never even knew you took you back. My mom knew me my whole life and still didn't want me. So, yeah, maybe I like Cate taking care of me, or Baze coaching me, or Lauren following me around because her sister suddenly has no time for her, or Jones looking at me like the way he looks at you. So, what, now what, you're jealous because Cate is having another baby? It's a problem I'd kill to have." Tasha walks away leaving Lux standing there watching her.

In the woods, Lauren and Jake are making out and Lauren is taking off Jake's shirt. Jake is trying to do the same, but stops.

"Lauren, are you sure about this?" He asks her.

Lauren looks Jake up and down and then looks right into his eyes. "Definitely."

Jake smiles and lifts Lauren in his arms, kissing her roughly on the lips and they continue to pull eachother's clothes off.

Laverne is walks aimlessly around the backstage away from the craziness when Cate walks up to her.

"How did you get here?" She asks her mother.

"Lauren isn't back here, is she?" Laverne asks Cate.

"Did you lose Lauren?"

"No, I didn't lose Lauren. I just can't find her. I texted Baze so she's probably with Baze."

"God, Mom, I have asked you to do one thing for me, and you can't even do that." She chuckles.

Laverne glares at her daughter. "Excuse me, I spent the entire afternoon playing babysitter to your kids."

"Yeah, it's called being a grandparent! You know that thing that you were so excited about that you couldn't help yourself and brought over an entire gift basket of sex toys."

"You know, I could really do without the tone, Cate. I was just trying to be nice."

"Yeah, well, you know what it's about sixteen years too late." Cate spats. "I'm sorry but acting excited about a baby now does not change the fact that you...you told me to give up Lux!"

"Oh, that's great, Cate. You got yourself knocked up in high school then you got knocked up again in college. You didn't want a baby to ruin your life, but you kept Lauren anyway and it's suddenly my fault."

"Yeah, it's your fault!"

"You didn't want Lux anymore than I wanted you when I got pregnant!" Laverne stops when she realizes what she just said.

"That's nice." Cate tells her. "To finally hear you admit it."

She starts to walk away but Laverne follows her. "What is so surprising, Cate? The truth!?" She grabs Cate's arm but Cate pulls it back. "That I didn't want to be a mom at eighteen? I didn't want to skip college, Cate, and never have a career. And I'm not the one that left, Cate, I stayed. I didn't walk out when you were six. I was there!"

"Do you even know why I agreed to give up Lux? Because I actually wanted to make something of myself and be somebody. I couldn't stand the thought of being anything like you. But I proved it my second year in college when I had Lauren that I could do it! I could have done it with two, but we may never know now. You know, that's probably the reason why I don't even want to have kids now because I don't want to look at them and blame them for not being where I want to be in my life, the way that you have always blamed me!"

"That's real great, Cate. Go ahead. But I kept you and I tired my best. Which is a hell of a lot you did for Lux." Laverne walks away leaving Cate standing there.

Later that night, Cate is sitting on the side of the stage, sulking, just as Haley walks up to her.

"Cate, you okay?" She asks, as she walks closer to her.

"My boyfriend hates me, security is looking for my kid, and I just had a blow out fight with my mom which makes needing a closing band sorta pale in comparison." Cate explains.

"I'm sorry." Haley says, rubbing Cate's back.

"Is there any chance that you have a booze hound Mom that blames you for ruining her entire life, huh?"

"No." Haley says, sadly. "My mom passed away last year."

Cate closes here eyes. She was instantly regretting what she just said. "I hate myself."

"No." Haley chuckles. "No, I'm sorry. What I'm trying to say is that I understand that moms can be tricky even under major circumstances. I adored my mom, but I never felt like I could live up to what she was."

"All I really wanted was to be better than my mom was." Cate says.

"And maybe that was all she ever wanted for you, too. I don't know. I can't help you solve your mom problems." Haley tells her with a laugh. "But I think I can help you with your band one."

On stage, Ryan walks up. "Thank you for coming, Portland! We have a last minute surprise guest." He tells the crowd. "Thanks to Haley Scott for making connections and convenient travel plans. Our last artist this evening is the queen of music festivals. And it's a true honor to have her here with us tonight. So, please, give a proper Stumptown welcome for the one and only, Sarah McLachlan!"

Sarah walks on stage and is welcome with a round of applause and screaming from the crowd. She takes a seat behind the piano and starts the song.

In the woods, Lauren and Jake are rushing to put their clothes back on.

"Did I just hear Sarah McLachlan?" She asks, Jake.

Jake laughs. "Yeah, I think so. Wanna go check it out?"

"Yeah, my grandma is probably looking everywhere for me before my mom finds out I'm gone." She buttons her pants and looks at Jake with a smile. "Let's go." She takes Jake's hand and they run out towards the concert.

In concert jail, Baze and Emma are actually enjoying themselves and are laughing and talking.

"I once went on this blind date and this guy had a hair piece." Emma tells him. "It fell into the soup and he just kept on eating."

"What are you doing dating guys with hair pieces?" Baze asks her.

"Shut up. You said you dated a girl in scrapbooks and made her own pickles. Though, I once dated this guy who had his own ant farm." She admits.

"Please tell me you did not spend the night." Emma looks away, awkwardly and shrugs her shoulder. "Oh! Alright, I just lost all respect for you."

"Oh, right, like you had so much before."

"I did. Sure, you are a scary, micromanage control freak..." Emma waits for him to go on. "That's it." he laughs. "You're just a scary micromanage control freak."

"Okay. Okay. Say you could scrounge up your ideal woman from scratch. Who would she be? You know what, let me guess. Pint size, big eyes, looks like that chick from Roswell."

"Huh. Alright, you first. What's your type?"

"Sucker for the classics. Tall, dark, handsome, has to have a really good business sense..."

"Snore.." Baze jokes.

"And has to be crazy in bed." Emma adds catching Baze's attention.

The security guard walks up to them. "Hey, lovebirds. We're on our last act. You're free to go unless you want to stay the night."

"Alright." Baze tells him before turning back to Emma. "Define crazy in bed."

"No."

"Come on, seriously." They just sit there and continue to talk. They were actually enjoying eachother's company and didn't want to move.

Behind stage, Laverne is talking to a security guard.

"We found her. She's fine." He tells her.

Laverne sighs gratefully. "Thank you." The guard leaves just as Cate walks up. "Lauren is okay."

Cate smiles and leans back on the bench next to her mom. "Thank you for finding her."

Laverne looks at her daughter. "I remember the day you told me you were pregnant. The first time. I remember where I was standing. I wanted better for you, Cate. Better than I had." Cate looks at her mom. "Better than I was. And you have it. Regardless of getting pregnant in college. You raised Lauren all on your own, with no one's help, but Baze's, but you got through college and you have a career, you have a boyfriend who loves you, and you have two daughters who don't blame you nearly as much as you blame me."

"Yes, she does." Cate tells her. "Lux blames me. And why shouldn't she blame me? I wasn't there. She had to go through all those years and all those milestones alone. And what am I going to do now? I'm going to go and have some other kid? I already did. I had Lauren and I got to go through all that with her. I still am!"

"Is that what's stopping you? You don't want to have a baby in front of Lux?" Cate doesn't say anything. That was exactly it. "Cate, you can't keep beating yourself up for not being there. All you can do is take the second chance to be there now. She'll be okay. They both will. As long as they know that you will still be there when they need you. As long as you just be here mom now." Cate looks at her mom and smiles just as Lux walks up to them.

"Cate?"

Cate turns and sees Lux's sad face looking back at her. "Lux?"

"Me and Tasha got into a fight." Lux cries. Cate opens her arms and Lux runs right into them as she latches onto Cate like she had never done before. Laverne walks passed them and then turns back around to see Cate looking at her. Cate smiles as Laverne starts to walk again and she rubs her hands through Lux's hair, lovingly, while Lux cries on her shoulder.

At the house, Ryan is sitting on the porch when Cate walks out.

"Lux asleep?" He asks her as he looks at his watch.

"Mhm. Baze just called. He should be dropping Lauren off any minute." She tells him.

"I don't know what to do, Cate. This isn't how I wanted us to be."

"Well, I figured out why I didn't want to have a baby." Ryan turns to her. "I just.. I felt too guilty doing it in front of Lux. And I've just been feeling really caught, like I'm going to be this bad mom or I'm going to be this bad wife, and I just feel like I'm going to let one of you down and if I had to choose, I guess I've been choosing her. Which I know is not fair to you." Cate walks closer and sits down next to him. "I'm gonna talk to both of them."

"Don't do it for me." Ryan tells her.

"Not just for you. I'll do it for us." Ryan puts his hand out for Cate to take, which she does willingly.

A car pulls up and Lauren quickly gets up and runs up the porch over to her mom and Ryan.

"Hey." Cate says, smiling at her youngest.

"Mom, I had the best night ever! That was so much fun!"

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it." Ryan laughs.

"Hey, you have a leaf in your hair." Cate says as she reaches up and takes it out of Lauren's hair.

Lauren giggles and hugs both Cate and Ryan. "I'm going to sleep. I love you both!" She gleams as she runs into the house.

"At least someone had a good night." Ryan jokes.

Cate shakes her head laughing and rests it on Ryan's shoulder.

The next morning, Cate walks into Lux's room with a plate of food. Lux sits up, tiredly, and smiles at Cate.

"Hi."

"HI!" Cate says while walking over to her.

"Pancakes?" Lux asks as Cate sits down next to her. "Who are you and what have you done with Cate?"

"Yeah, well, I never got to do it when you were little." Cate tells her. "I figured it's never too late to start now."

Lux smirks. "I'm sensing some baby guilt."

Cate nods her head. "I'm really sorry about the way you found out."

"Mm. Your mom's x-rated gift basket?" Lux teases.

"You know the last thing I would ever want is for you to feel replaced."

"No, I don't." Lux tells her. "Not by you anyway."

"By who? Jones and Tasha?"

"She was right. I was being selfish with her, with Jones, probably you, too. I know the whole world doesn't revolve around me and not everyone is always going to be there."

"Okay, wait. I'm not Jones, okay? But I'm always going to be there. Always. No matter how many babies come into the picture and trust me I am not anticipating many. You and Lauren are already a handful." She says making Lux laugh. "No one will ever replace you, or your sister. You know that, right?"

"I do now. But there is someone who doesn't."

At Baze's, Cate walks out onto Baze's balcony where he is sitting on the ledge. He looks her way and smiles.

"Hey."

"Hey." She says back.

"It was a great concert. Lux survived it and Lauren can't stop talking about it."

"Yeah, there was just a few issues but all is good." Cate says sitting in front of him. "I just wanted to talk to you about this whole baby thing. I just want you to know that nothing is going to change between you and me, or with Lux and Lauren."

Baze smiles and taps Cate on her knee. "I think that it already has. But maybe that is a good thing." Cate gives him a questioning look. "I felt something yesterday. That spark. That I haven't felt since.." He didn't even have to say anything. Cate knew who he was referring to. "You know, just hearing that you and Ryan are trying to have a baby and knowing that you've already moved on, it just helped me out a lot. To moving on." He says, putting his beer out and handing Cate one, too.

Cate smiles, nervously. "To moving on." She says, unsure, as she looks at Baze. Baze was just making this so much harder that it hurt.

In Lauren's room, Lux walks in with her school books and goes to Lauren's computer. She didn't have a computer, yet, so she just uses Lauren, except Lauren left something up that she may not want anyone to see. _'I had a great night with you last night. It was amazing. I can't wait to see you again so we can do it all over. I love you, Lauren Bazile. Jake' _Lux kept reading the email over and over again. She was hoping Jake wasn't talking about what she was thinking he was talking about. 


	27. Rumour Has It

It had been a few days since the concert and everyone was finally calming down. Lux was still upset about the whole Tasha and Jones thing, but she knew that Tasha was right about everything and Lux needed to learn to let certain things go. It was Baze's weekend, though, for the girls and Lux hadn't seen Eric around much at school. She was avoiding the whole tutoring thing since their little talk at the concert, plus, he had been hanging out with Paige a lot, too, and that was a little awkward. Paige ended up taking the extra room that Baze has for a little bit while she looked for her own place. And it just so happened to be the night that Lauren and Lux were staying over while Eric was, too.

Eric walks slowly out of Paige's room. He was trying to be as quiet as he could, but Lux opens the door of her room and sees him trying to leave. Eric stops and looks at Lux, who was surprised to see him.

"Oh." He says not knowing what else to say.

Lux tries to play cool and walks out. "Hey."

"Sorry. Paige thought that you slept at Cate's." He tells her.

"Wish I had. It's a small loft. The walls aren't exactly sound proof." Lux says as she walks passed him.

"Lux I'm sorry!" Eric tells her but Lux just keeps walking and he closes his eyes when the bathroom door slams.

At Baze's work, Baze knocks gently on Emma's office door as he peeks in smiling. Emma doesn't even look up from the paperwork she is looking through.

"Good morning." Baze says. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Coffee. Black. And hold my calls."

"Right. But before I get that. You got a minute?" He asks while he shuts the door behind him. He takes a cd out from his pocket. "I made you this." Emma looks up. "It's got a lot of music from the concert."

"Nate, this is the office and I'm your boss." She informs him.

"Right. I know that. I just think that maybe.."

"Hey, don't forget I need a copy of my itinerary for the company retreat this evening." Emma interrupts.

Baze looks a little hurt at how Emma was treating him considering their weekend together. "The retreat, right. Hey, crazy idea. How about when you get back we.."

"None of these documents are signed." She interrupts again. "Get Tom from accounting down here.

"Yeah, okay." Baze turns around and walks out of the office.

At Cate's, Cate is in the living room packing up her clothes when Ryan walks in. She smiles at him.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey."

"I got your 711 text. I couldn't remember if that was our code for hurry home or get some milk. What's going on?"

"We're going on a stay-cation." She tells him.

Ryan looks at her confused. "Yeah, I don't think that is a real word."

"Yes, it is! It is a real word. You know, a vacation where you stay in town. At the Carlo hotel. They just opened in Portland and I figured we could try it out for the weekend."

"You mean leave right this minute try it out?"

"Why not? We've never been on a vacation, just us. We always had Lauren with us when we went somewhere. You know, with work a weekend is all either of us could take. And plus we're trying to have a baby." Cate smiles as she goes over to Ryan and holds him around the back. "There's a lot of uninterrupted sex to be had. We can spend the next 48 hours in bed." Ryan bends down and kisses her. He was loving her ideas right now.

"I'm in."

"Alright! You change your clothes. I will meet you in the car. I already packed your bag." She says walking back to the luggage.

Ryan turns around and points at her. "You're good." He says before turning back around and heading towards the bedroom.

Cate's phone starts to ring. "Hey, I can't really talk unless it's about Lux and Lauren. I am leaving in two minutes for my staycation." She says happily.

"Is that a real word?" Baze asks her.

"Yes."

"Well, this is a little weird and awkward given everything, but I can't talk to the guys about this and I need your advice."

Cate stops what she is doing. "Okay."

"Remember Emma? Slight narotic uptight, a bit like you?"

"Alright, get to the point."

"Alright, well, I felt at the concert that we kinda bonded, but now, she's mean, unlike you who's nice and helpful and nice."

"Well, you are at work and she is your boss." Cate reminds him.

"That's what she said. It's scary how alike you are."

"Look, just find some time alone with her away from the office."

"Yeah, I tried but she is leaving for a company retreat this week."

"No, no. That's great. You gotta get in on that. There's alcohol, there's room service. You know that first time Ryan and I had sex was at a company retreat." She says as she stops to think back.

Baze grimaces at the thought. "Yeah, kinda awkward. But thanks. I gotta go." Baze sees his dad walking into the building so he quickly hangs up and walks over to him. "Hey, Dad."

"Good morning, Nate. Emma in?"

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Baze's dad walks back over to him. "The whole company retreat that's happening this weekend, do you mind if I tag along?" Baze's dad gives him a questioning look." I just kinda feel like I'm playing catch up here. I just want to do the best job possible."

"You know? You absolutely should come. Way to take initiative, Nate." His dad says proudly as he pats Baze on the shoulder and walks away.

At school, Lux walks into Eric's classroom and throws her test down on his desk.

"What's this?" He asks her.

"That is my essay test on The Outsiders, and that would be an F on the top. Again. This whole tutoring thing. It's not working for me." Lux says in frustration.

Eric puts Lux's test back down and looks up at Lux with sincere eyes. "Lux, I apologize for this morning. I'm sorry it's awkward."

"This is not about this morning. This is about wasting my time. I've read the book. I've shown up for all these sessions. Clearly I don't understand this stuff."

"Well, you're required to be here so you can't just quit on yourself."

Lux picks her test back up. "I'm not quitting on me. I'm quitting you. For good. I want a new tutor." She demands before she walks out and Eric watches her leave.

Outside the quad, Lauren is sitting at one of the benches while she smiles down at her phone where she is texting Jake. Lux walks up to her.

"Texting Jake?" She asks her.

Lauren looks at her big sister with a confused look. "Yeah. How'd you know I was texting Jake?"

Lux sits down next to her. "Because I know you had sex with him." She blurts out rather loudly.

Lauren covers Lux's mouth and looks around to make sure no one heard her. "Shut up, Lux. And how do you know that?"

Lux moves Lauren's hand. "Because you left your email open when I went to go print out some stuff. If you don't want something found, then don't leave it up."

"First off, you shouldn't have read it. And second, it's none of your business!"

"Actually, it is my business." Lux tells her.

"How do you figure that?" Lauren asks as she turns back to her phone.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you are only thirteen and you're my little sister who shouldn't be having sex at all. Oh, and also maybe because Jake doesn't live here anymore. How the hell did you manage to have sex with someone who doesn't live here anymore?"

"He came down for the concert. I didn't even know he was coming. And why do you care all of sudden about what I do?" Lauren asks. "You didn't care before."

"I did care." Lux tells her. She was a little hurt that Lauren didn't think that she cared about her.

"No you don't." Lauren says, rudely. "You're too far up your teacher's ass to care about anything else but yourself."

Lux was surprised. "How do you know about..."

"Because I'm not stupid. Surprise. I can figure things out." Lauren says sarcastically.

Lux rolls her eyes. "Well, that's over with. And I didn't have sex with him so that's not the point. The point is you're too young and I'm pretty sure you're not ready!"

"Well, if I wasn't ready then I wouldn't have done it. Just leave me alone, Lux." Lauren grabs her things and walks away. Lux sighs. She knew she was taking her anger out on Lauren, but she was right. Lauren did not need to be having sex. She regretted her first time and she didn't want Lauren to regret her's.

At the hotel, Ryan and Cate walk in.

"This is a suitcase?" Ryan asks her as he struggles with the bag. "It weighs a ton."

"Oh, quit complaining." Cate laughs. "Let's just check in and get to our room. We have some business to take care of." She teases as she reaches up and kisses Ryan. They start walking again, but stop when they see someone familiar.

"That's funny. That looks like Baze's boss." Ryan says as they look at Emma who is waiting to check in.

"And that's definitely Baze's dad." Cate says as she looks at the man standing in front of Emma. "Oh, geez. Oh my gosh. The retreat."

Baze walks up behind them. "Hi, guys." He says a little surprised. Ryan and Cate both turn around. "I get it now. A vacation where you stay in town. Staycation."

Ryan looks horrified and Cate rubs his arm soothingly. "Oh my gosh."

In the hotel room, Cate and Ryan are unpacking their things.

"Oh, who cares if he is here. It's a huge hotel." Cate runs over and jumps on the bed. "We are never going to see him."

Ryan walks over and bends down in front of Cate. "Especially since I don't plan on leaving the room." He says making Cate fall on her back. He starts to kiss her until a knock on the door happens.

"That's our champagne." Cate tells him. Cate gets up and runs to the door. When she opens it Baze is standing behind it smiling. "You are not my champagne."

"Really?" Ryan asks.

"Hi. Small favor. I need to switch rooms with you guys." Baze asks as he steps in.

"And now he's in our room."

"No." Cate tells him. "No way!"

"Cate, come on. Emma is in the adjoining room and I am at the other side of the hotel. You're the one that told me to score some alone time with Emma. I'm just trying to follow your very safe advice."

Cate sighs and looks at Ryan. "I'm sorry."

Ryan breathes out. "Alright. I'll get the bags."

At Baze's, Paige is left taking care of Lux and Lauren. She is mixing some drinks as she looks at Lux and Lauren who were still mad at eachother.

"So, you two stoked for movie night?" She asks them.

"Uh, yeah." Lux tells her with a smile.

"Sure." Lauren adds.

"Ah, this is so fun. Cate, Baze, Ryan out of town. They were so worried like I don't know how to take care of teenagers for a couple days. Apple or chocolate martini?" Paige asks as she holds up two martini glasses.

"Apple." Lux points out.

"Chocolate." Lauren says taking the drink out of Paige's hand.

There's a knock at the door and they all look over. "I wonder who that could be." Paige says as she goes to the door. She opens it and Eric walks in. "Hi!" She yells as she hugs him. "How are you?"

Both Lux and Lauren choke on their drinks when they see who it is. "Hey." Eric says to them.

"What's up?" Lauren says.

"Uh, hi." Lux says, nervously. "I didn't realize that you were coming." Lux grabs her bag. "I'm just going to go to Cate's and leave you two alone. Lauren are you coming?"

"Oh, no. I'm here for you." Eric tells her.

"Surprise!" Paige gleams. "Look, Eric told me that you were having trouble in school and we thought that this would be a really fun way to do your homework."

Lux looks at Lauren who is trying not to laugh. "The Outsiders." Eric says as he holds up the movie.

"Well, I already failed the test so you're a little bit late." Lux tells him.

"Yeah, but I emailed Math to see about a make-up one."

"Popcorn's ready." Paige says while Eric walks away.

"Let the games begin." Lauren smiles as she follows Eric into the living room.

Lux just stood there awkwardly. She didn't understand why this stuff was always happening to her.

At the hotel, Ryan is laying in bed with a robe on. He hurt it when he was putting down the bags and now he could barely move. Cate gets in and hands him some water and pills.

"Maybe we should just go home." She suggests.

"Oh, no way." Ryan tells her. "I was promised some baby making time and I am not going home until I get some." Cate smiles and kisses Ryan.

"Well, until the drugs start I have some almost wedding pictures that we took." Ryan groans. "Come on. The photographer just sent them. We can look at it and decide what to do better the next time."

"Alright, bring it on." Ryan says. Cate jumps in excitement and grabs the album.

Cate opens the album. "Okay, so these must be the photos taken at the church." She says as she looks at the picture of her and Ryan standing at the alter. She looks at the other one on the side of it. "Aw, look at Lux and Lauren. They are so cute. Wait! Is my mother holding a flask in this picture?!"

"Well, technically she's not holding because it's tuck inside her bra." Ryan jokes.

Cate rolls her eyes and continues on. "Who's that?" She asks. She points to the picture of Ryan and a girl talking behind Ryan's parents.

Ryan looks stunned as he stares the picture. "Uh, I can't remember." He lies.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that long ago." Cate tells him.

Ryan takes a closer look. "Oh, yeah, right. That's, uh, that's Julia."

"Your parents friend Julia? The one that sent us the crystal vase?" Ryan nods his head. "Did you send her a thank you note because I tried, but we don't even have her address. It wasn't on the guest list."

"I told you I was going to take care of that, Cate."

Cate looks back at the picture. "She's not even dressed up."

Ryan scowls. "What does it matter what she's wearing? Why are you obsessing about this?"

"I am not obsessing. She was at the wedding and she gave us a gift. I'd like to send her a thank you note. I mean, how am I suppose to send her a thank you note if I'm not even sure if we invited her."

"Huh. Well, you want to talk about uninvited guest at our wedding? I can think of someone else we should be talking about."

Cate turns away and rolls her eyes. They were fighting over a wedding that didn't even happen. "Why are you doing this? Why are you picking a fight about Baze?"

Ryan sighs. "It's my back." He says, trying at all possible to avoid the topic of Julia. "It hurts."

"I'll get you more ice." Cate gets out of bed and walks away while Ryan opens the album back up and looks at the picture of Julia again. He flashes back to the night that he and Cate got into that really big fight about sleeping with Baze and he walked out. He knocks on the door and Julia opens it. "Hey." He says smiling at the tall blonde.

"Hey." Julia says a little confused. Ryan walks in and Julia notices him stumbling a little while he walks. "You're drunk." She tells him. "And engaged."

"We broke up." Julia walks closer to Ryan while she looks at him. "Cate. She, uh, she cheated on and I just found out. It was stupid."

"I'm a good listener."

"I didn't come here to talk." He says smiling at her. They start making out and pulling eachother's clothes off as they continue to make out. Ryan comes back to reality. All this time he was mad at Cate for cheating on him, when he kinda did the same thing.

At Baze's, Paige had already fallen asleep during the movie and Lux, Lauren, and Eric were still up watching it except Lauren was busy on her phone while Lux and Eric talked.

"So, The Outsiders? What did you think?" Eric asks her.

"That has to be the worse fake blood I have ever seen. Do they use gel or actual motor oil on their hair?" Lux asks making Eric laugh. "And what's with those names? Sodapop? Ponyboy? Cherry?"

"Cause Lux is such a normal name." Lauren tells her.

Lux glares at her sister and takes her phone away from her. She looks at it and sees it's Jake. "How about you go talk to Jake somewhere else. Preferably not in here?"

Lauren rolls her eyes and takes her phone back from Lux. "Whatever. I don't want to hear you and "Mr. Daniels..." She quotes. "..flirt anyway. Kinda sickening." Lauren walks to her room and closes the door.

Lux is surprised what Lauren says and looks at Eric who is staring at her. "She knows?" He asks.

Lux shakes her head. "Not exactly. She just knows that something happened but she doesn't know what."

"It's fine. Hey, so, what do you think? Do you want to take the test over?" Eric asks her changing the subject.

Lux takes a deep breath and looks at Eric. "I don't want to take the test over. I don't want you to talk to Math. I don't want your help! God, dude, take a hint." Lux stands up and so does Eric as he looks at Paige to make sure she wasn't listening because Lux is raising her voice. "Go home. Right. You can't. You're on a date with your girlfriend. If you're not leaving then I am." Lux walks passed him and Eric takes a look at Paige to make sure she's sleeping before he runs after her.

"Lux, wait!" Eric follows Lux outside.

Paige phone starts ringing and she answers it groggily. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Cate."

"Hey, Cate. How's everything going?" Paige asks.

"It's pretty much consisting of walking back and forth to the ice machine." Cate tells her while she walks the hallway once again with a bucket of ice in her hand. "But it's fine. I'm just calling to check on Lux and Lauren. Are they there?"

Paige sits up and sees that no one is in the living room. "You know, they are doing their homework right now so it's probably best not to bother them right now. I'll tell them you called."

"Okay. Um, Paige hold on second." Cate sits down in one of the chairs outside. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you know about your parents' friend Julia?"

Paige rolls her eyes. "My parents' don't have any friends. They hate eachother. Oh, oh!" Paige says realizing the name. "You mean, Julia, Julia. Like Ryan's ex."

Cate is surprised. "Um, yeah. Were they serious?"

"You're kidding, right?" Paige laughs. "She's like the one that got away." Cate is silent which makes Paige realize that Cate had no idea about any of this. "Ryan never told you about Julia?"

In the room, Ryan is still looking through the album while he remembers everything that happened that day and before. He flashes back to the day of the rehearsal dinner and when Lux's adoption was finalized. He gets out of the car and walks towards the house but a familiar car catches his eye. He looks back at the house to make sure no one was watching or standing outside and then he goes towards the car and gets in.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, Julia.

"Your mom said you'd be here." She tells him. "I didn't know what else to do. You weren't answering my phone calls."

"Yeah, for a reason. We have the rehearsal dinner tonight and the wedding is tomorrow, Julia."

"Ryan, I think I'm pregnant."

Ryan felt like someone just punched him right in the stomach. He couldn't breath. "What?"

"I took a home test." She tells him.

"Oh, my god, Julia. I am marrying Cate tomorrow. Am I suppose to tell her today before the rehearsal?"

"Well, listen, listen. Calm down. I am going to the doctor to confirm it. I just felt like you should know, but there's no reason to say anything to Cate until we know for sure."

"Julia, I am here for you no matter what, but-" Ryan opens the door again. "I have to go before she sees us. Just call when when you know."

"I will."

Ryan closes the photo album and stares sadly at it. He hated keeping things from Cate, especially since he hated her keeping thing from him. But he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to her the girls.

Down in the bar, Lux and Eric are arguing.

"Lux, you can't make this personal and fail out of school just because you are upset about me and Paige." Eric tells her.

"Oh, my gosh! I am not failing out because of you! I was failing way before you showed up!" Lux yells at him.

"How is that possible when you clearly know the material."

"For the last time, I don't know!" Lux was yelling hysterically. She didn't realize she had this much anger towards the the whole Eric situation. "Here!" Lux grabs the test of her bag and throws it at him. "Take the stupid test and pathetic essay and you figure it out for yourself if you think you are such a brilliant teacher!"

"Lux, stop!"

"No, why do you care? Why do you care if I show up for stupid tutoring!?"

"Because maybe tutoring is the only way I can actually spend time with you without it being wrong!" He yells. Lux was surprised by this. Eric had never shown any interest in wanting to be around Lux before since he found out she was a student. Eric sighs. "It's the only thing we are actually allowed to do together." He says, relaxing his voice. "I never want to give that up. I don't want to give up getting to know you." Lux just stood there listening to Eric. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. "I like that part."

Lux nods her head. "Well, look who's making it personal now. So, what? What does it change?" Eric doesn't say anything. Instead he turns away. "That's what I thought." Lux turns away and walks out of the bar leaving Eric standing there alone. He felt bad, but he knew that nothing could ever happen with them. He didn't want to lie to Lux, but he wanted to be honest with her, too.

Back at the hotel, Cate walks in and goes over to Ryan, who was still laying in bed. She puts the ice down and just looks at Ryan. She was still stunned by what Paige told her and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"So, Julia's your ex." Cate says. "Kinda buried the lead on that one, huh?" Ryan was lost of words. "Yeah, I talked to Paige. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie?"

"Okay, yes, Julia and I dated. But, Cate, that was a long time ago."

"Well, according to Paige she was the love of your life. Which is a pretty big thing to never mention in four years. You know, I don't understand what you ex was doing at our wedding." Cate was growing frustrated with all of it and therefore her temper was rising just a bit.

"Cate." Ryan sits up and looks his girlfriend in her sad eyes. "When you and I broke up, Julian and I slept together." Cate glares at Ryan with anger. "It was only one time, and I knew it was a mistake. I was drunk and I was hurt. Julia and I didn't really talk after that until the day before our wedding. Julia came to me and said that she thought that she was pregnant."

"Oh, my god. I thought you had doubts and I asked you. No, you did, you promised me that it was all in my head. That is wasn't true! And when you were talking to Lux and being that great guy saying that you were putting them first, were you just looking for a way out?"

"No, Cate!" Ryan stands up, ignoring his back pain. "Everything I said to Lux was true!" Cate turns away, rubbing her face. She couldn't believe all this was happening. "I would have called the wedding off for the girls if that's what they wanted. But, yeah, I had my own reasons, too."

"So, what? I'm suppose to be okay because she's not pregnant?" Cate asks. "What if she had been pregnant? Would you have called off the wedding?"

"I don't know." Cate couldn't believe this. She walks in the living room area and sits down. Not like it mattered now because they weren't married. She actually followed through with her doubts and called off the wedding before they didn't anything stupid. But now, Ryan was wanting a baby, with her, and they were trying. But now Cate was feeling like Ryan is trying for all the wrong reasons.

At Cate's, Lux walks into the house. She needed to get away from that place. Being around Eric was causing far more problems than she wanted it to and she couldn't take it anymore. She was sixteen pining for a 20 something year old. That wasn't right. But it felt right. When Lux walks further into the house, she hears a banging on the floor. She looks up the stairs. There wasn't suppose to be anyone here. Lux slowly walks up the stairs and she hears the banging noise again, but this time she hears it from Lauren's room. Lux starts running to Lauren's room and when she opens the door she is met with two naked bodies staring back at her.

"Oh, my god!" She yells as she turns around quickly and shuts her eyes.

"Lux!" Lauren yells. Jake jumps back under the covers to hide himself.

"Lauren, what the hell are you doing!? Well, I know what you are doing." Lux says as she still faces the hallway. "Jake, get the hell out of my sister's room or I'm calling Cate."

"I'm sorry, Lux." Jake says as he grabs his clothes off the floor.

"Just get out." Lux walks out and slams the door behind her. Just what she needed. To walk in on her thirteen year-old sister having sex in her bedroom.

"I'm so sorry, Jake."

"It's okay, Lauren. Look, I'm just going to leave and you call or text me later." He bends down and kisses Lauren on her cheek.

"Okay." Lauren watches Jake crawl out of her window and she falls back into her bed, exhaling all the air she was holding in. Her sister just walked in on her, she thought. She's going to kill her.

At the hotel, Baze knocks on Ryan and Cate's door and Ryan answers.

"Hey, Ryan, sorry. I know it's late. I need to talk to Cate." Baze tells him.

"Yeah, she went home." Ryan tells him.

"What? What happened?"

"We got into an argument." Ryan says as he turns away and goes back into the room. Baze follows him. "Let's just say, getting together with your ex before your wedding is not a great idea."

"Okay, look, I don't know what Cate told you, but it wasn't all her fault." Baze tells him. "It was mine, really. I mean, if I wouldn't have had feelings for Cate then she wouldn't have had doubts." Ryan looks back at Baze with a confused look. "And wouldn't have been wondering if she had feelings for me." Baze looks at Ryan and realizes that Cate and him were not who Ryan was talking about. "Okay, you know what? This is the alcohol talking. I just came back from a party, uh, I'm a little drunk right now." He laughs nervously.

"Okay, Baze, just tell me what happened." Baze sighs and looks away from Ryan. He did not want to explain anything to Ryan, but Ryan was not going to let him leave that room until he did and Baze knew that. He also knew he had to get to Cate before Ryan did."

The next day, Baze is walking out of the hotel while he is on the phone.

"You've reached Cate. Leave a message." Cate's voicemail says. "Hey, Cate, we really need to talk. I screwed things up big time. Not with me and Emma, but, well, that too, but I talked to Ryan. Anyways, call. I'll explain."

At Baze's, Lux had came back to clean the place up before Baze got home because she sure knew Paige wouldn't. While she's in the kitchen, Eric walks in and knocks on the door while he looks at her. Lux turns to him.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about last night." Lux rolls her eyes and ignores him. Eric walks over to her. "You weren't the only one making things personal." Lux stops what she is doing and takes a deep breath. "Lux, I can't show you how I feel like normal people can. The only way I can show it is through your school work. You know, all those tests and essays you threw at me? Well, I started looking through them. Lux, have you ever been tested for a learning disability?" He asks, surprising Lux a litte. No, Lauren is the one with the learning disability.

"What?" She asks.

"Because I think that you might have one. But if you just give me a chance to help you the one way that I can, I know that everything can change. Some things can." Eric tells her as they stare at eachother. Lux had nothing to stay. Learning disability? Maybe she and Lauren were more alike than they thought.

At Cate's, Cate is in the kitchen trying to make herself look busy as she cleans the kitchen. She had so much on her mind and so much she wanted to ask, but she couldn't. Ryan walks into the front door to find her just staring off.

"Cate." He calls out. "Can we talk?" He asks as he walks into the kitchen.

"Uh, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk." She tells him.

"Are you really doing this?"

"Doing what? What is it that I am doing?"

"Pretending like I am the only one that had a secret at the wedding." Cate stops what she is doing. "Yeah. Baze told me everything, Cate. He said that you were over at his loft. He said that it was you that was having doubts. He said that you were afraid that you were in love with him!?"

"No, Ryan, I mean, my god, yes, but it was obviously because I was sensing your doubts which is why I went over there to begin with. But the wedding didn't happen so it doesn't matter anymore."

"No, it does matter. What would you have done if he would have told you that he loved you? Would you have called off the weddin? I mean, before Baze ran in and interrupted everything."

Cate is silent for a few seconds as she stares at Ryan's pleading eyes. "I don't know."

Later at the house, Ryan ended up leaving to think about things and for Cate to think, too. Yeah, she had a whole lot of thinking to do. So, while she is sitting in the living room, just sitting there, thinking, Lux walks in.

"Hey." She says.

Cate looks up and gives her daughter a small smile. "Hey." She notices Lux somber face. "What's going on?"

Lux sighs and sits downs next to Cate. "Look, I know a lot is happening right now and this is probably not a good time, but I don't know what else to do."

Cate sits up and looks at Lux with worried eyes. "Lux, did something happen?"

Lux looks away. She didn't want to see Cate expression when she told her. "There's something you need to know about Lauren." Cate took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she was about to find out.

At Baze's, Baze is on his roof drinking a beer when Cate walks in.

"Cate, hey."

"Hey, I got your messages. I mean, not in time, but I don't think it would have made a difference." She tells him sadly.

"I'm so sorry. I thought my days of messing up you and Ryan were done with."

"If you would have told me two months ago that I would be standing here on this deck with you, that I would be in a better place with you than I am with Ryan..."

"Look, I am sorry." Baze says again. "That night, that was my fault. I told Ryan that."

"It's not what you did. It's what I did. I came over here looking for something. I was looking for answers. All you did was not say you love me." She says, smirking at Baze. "But enough about me. We need to talk about Lauren." Baze looks confused as Cate sits down in front of him.

In the kitchen, Lux and Cate are sitting at the bar.

"Cate, I don't know what to say. You and Ryan, you guys are going to be okay, right?" Lux asks.

Cate turns to her daughter and gives her soft smile. "Of course. We're going to get through it." She says trying to tell herself more than Lux. "It's going to be okay, Lux. We're all going to be okay."

The front door closes and they both look up to see Lauren throwing down her things. "Not all of us." Lux whispers. They watch Lauren walk over to them. She was still mad at Lux for kicking Jake out but she didn't want to show that in front of Cate because then she would be asking questions.

"What's up?" Lauren asks, as she takes a sip of Cate's coffee.

"When did you start drinking coffee?" Cate asks, confused.

"Paige gave it to me, so it kinda stuck." She tells her mom.

"Uh, I have to get to tutoring with Mr. Daniels." Lux tells them as she stands up and grabs her things. "I will see you both later."

"Okay, have a good day." Cate tells her as she watches Lux walk towards the door and leave.

Lauren looks back at her mom. "Lux is doing tutoring on a Saturday?" She asks.

Cate smiles. "Yeah. Well, your sister really wants to do well in her English class. Hey, come sit for a minute." Cate pulls on Lauren's hand and she walks over and takes Lux's spot.

"What's up?" Cate didn't even have to say anything. Lauren knew that look that was giving her. It's the look she had been giving her all her life when Lauren did something she wasn't suppose to which explained the whole tutoring on Saturday for Lux. Lauren turns to the front door where Lux just left from before turning back to her mom.

At the school, Lux walks into hers and Mr. Daniels usual tutoring spot. When she walks in she sees no one there. A woman walks out from the back and smiles at Lux.

"Oh, where's Mr. Daniels?" Lux asks her.

"You must be Lux. Mr. Daniels asked me to step in as your tutor going forward." She tells her. "So, have a seat." Lux is surprised and couldn't move. Things were good. Why did Eric not want to tutor her anymore? "Let's get started on some tests." Pay back is a bitch. 


End file.
